It’s a Sign of the Times

By Sean Davies

The glittering neon past of Las Vegas Boulevard still lingers in the city that never sleeps, carefully tended to by the curators of The Neon Museum. There, the glitzy and glamorous neon signs that once lined the streets are kept close to their old stomping grounds, refurbished and restored to former glory to be proudly displayed once more. But unlike their glory days, they no longer lure travelers into casinos and kitschy convenience stores. Instead, they stand as important relics of cultural and historic significance.

Founded in 1996, The Neon Museum is a non-profit organization dedicated to collecting, preserving, studying and exhibiting iconic Las Vegas signs for educational, historic, arts and cultural enrichment.

Divided into three main spaces, the Neon Museum campus is made up of the Neon Boneyard Main Collection, the Neon

History is illuminated at The Neon Museum

Boneyard North Gallery and a Visitors’ Center that may look familiar.

Located inside the historic La Concha Motel lobby, the Visitors’ Center is a welcoming and historic architectural introduction into the mid-century modern style that influenced so many casino developers in the 50s and 60s.

Originally constructed in 1961 on Las Vegas Boulevard South, the La Concha Motel lobby was saved from demolition, much like many of the items on display in the museum, before being moved to its current location. References to many of the lobby’s original interior design elements have been included in the newly refurbished facility, with two of the motel’s original signs restored and illuminated as part of the museum’s rehabilitation efforts.

The Neon Boneyard Main Collection consists of more than 250 unrestored signs, strewn about like odd tombstones of a bygone age. As soon as the sun sets, the signs are illuminated with ground lighting or left on entirely if they were lucky enough to survive their original decommissioning with all parts intact. The signs make outstanding backdrops for photoshoots or videos and can be booked for personal use.

The North Gallery sits adjacent to the museum and showcases more unrestored signs from their collection. While it’s also available for photo and video shoots, the North Gallery is the only place to see the museum’s augmented reality program, “Brilliant!”

Utilizing 24 3D-sound speakers and eight projectors, artist Craig Winslow makes all 360 degrees of the gallery come to life, as the signs appear re-electrified. With a combination of flat photography, drone video and 3-D photogrammetry, Winslow recreated each sign, bulb by bulb, then fine-tuned the content to project perfectly onto the actual surfaces—the bulbs, bent metal and broken neon tubes of the signs in the gallery. The best part? Brilliant! is also available for weddings, receptions, educational programming, photo shoots and other special events.

The work of the Neon Museum can also be viewed throughout the city. Several of its refurbished signs are displayed on and around Las Vegas Boulevard as monuments to the city’s glittered history. The Hacienda Horse and Rider at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Fremont Street is just one of eight other restored neon signs currently on display as part of the Las Vegas Signs project. These restored signs can be visited on a selfguided tour, 24-hours a day, seven days a week. For more information, the folks behind the desk at the La Concha Motel Lobby will give you a push in the right direction. neonmuseum.org