Focus is on glamour at the Liberace Museum

A love for Lee Liberace isn't a necessity to enjoy the Las Vegas museum that bears his name.

Clothing designers come for the costumes, Russians come for the Roccoco desk once owned by Czar Nicholas II, motor enthusiasts come for the cars and music lovers take in the piano collection.

The Liberace museum opened in 1979 and was originally run by Liberace and his family. At his death in 1987, his costume and prop shop in the same complex was added and the museum tripled in size to 15,000 square feet.

Ground was broken in May, (on Liberace's 82nd birthday) for a new renovation and expansion project that will bring the total square footage to 21,000.

Comedian Rip Taylor made a grand entrance to the ground breaking ceremony popping confetti into the crowd and handing plastic rings to all the children.

"Everyone remembers (Liberace) as being glittering, sparkling and radiant. On the inside he was the same, a sweet caring person," Taylor commented.

Taylor said while some are competitive, Liberace wasn't afraid to give other performers a helping hand. He brought Barbra Streisand to Las Vegas and led several other entertainers to stardom.

When Liberace died, many of his possessions were sold in a huge auction. Taylor said if his friend had seen the sale, he would have bought it all back.

With a Tropicana showgirl on each arm, Taylor put on a rhinestone-covered hard hat and tossed a ceremonial spade of dirt with a sterling silver shovel made by Tiffany & Co.

"Don't forget, you were here in the beginning," he told the crowd. "And you'll be here again to see the end result."

The end result Taylor spoke of will include a new entrance to the main building through a giant rhinestone at the end of a mosaic of music notes set in hand-cut tiles. A pink neon piano and a replica of Liberace's signature will rise overhead.

To connect the two museum buildings, the walkway around the complex will be repaved and filled with bronze plaques to mark Liberace's career highlights. The Tropicana Avenue entrance to the complex will be closed off to make room for a record-shaped outdoor entertainment plaza for annual functions like the holiday tree lighting and birthday celebrations. Inside, museum space will be increased to make room for traveling exhibits. The museum store will be expanded and a small cafe will be added.

"Our challenge is to appeal to new and younger audiences who never had a chance to see Liberace perform," museum executive director Sandra Harris said. "We want to make Liberace more relevant to today's and tomorrow's audiences -- and the new expanded Liberace Museum should help do that."

The lead architect on the museum renovation is Francis Xavier Dumont, an entertainment and gaming designer who heads Leo A Daly's Las Vegas office. The design firm's most recent local projects include the Suncoast Hotel and Casino and the Lied Library at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Oakview Construction Inc. has been selected as the contractor for the project.

Collections manager Brian Alvarez said the museum houses many of the most valuable antiques in the state and 17 of the rarest pianos west of the Mississippi. Visitors can see the pure lead crystal dinning set Liberace had made to match a set owned by his friend Queen Elizabeth. Also on display are many of the rings Liberace wore from his gold "Baby Boy" poodle ring to his candelabra ring. Rotating in its glass case, the world's largest rhinestone, a 51-pound gift from Daniel Swarovski, is "the only piece of jewelry (Liberace) couldn't wear," Alvarez said.

Every part of Liberace's life was elaborate. Even the cars in his collection are covered in rhinestones, painted with ornate designs or set with mirrored panels. Alvarez pointed out a gas-guzzling Volks Royce Liberace commissioned to protest the '70s gas crisis.

"He would have had one made today, too," Alvarez said.

The renovation and expansion is expected to be completed late next summer. Museum exhibits will remain open throughout construction. Hours are Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. Tax deductible admission donations are $8 for adults and $5 for students and seniors age 60 and over. Admission is free for children under 12 accompanied by an adult and for museum members. The museum is located at 1775 E. Tropicana Ave. (at Spencer Street). For more information, call 798-5595.