Neon Boneyard catalogs tangible signs of Vegas' past

Aladdin's lamp, Stardust lettering rest near future museum and park

Dale Dombrowski/ViewThe signage that once marked the Silver Slipper sits at the Neon Museum?s 3-acre site, 777 Las Vegas Blvd. North. Advertisement

Athens has the ruins of the Parthenon. The UK has Stonehenge. Downtown Las Vegas has its Boneyard.

The lot is strewn with relics -- the flaking green and white signage from the historic Fremont Street eatery The Green Shack, circa 1932, the over 20-foot-high lettering from the Stardust, the glittering curves of the lamp from the Aladdin. They're all there.

Walking the graveled acreage of the site, adjacent to what is to become the Neon Museum and Neon Park at 777 Las Vegas Blvd. North, is perhaps as edifying as hitching a ride in a Wellsian time machine. It's an intimate, neon-adorned trip to Las Vegas-past.

"People come here from all over the world," said Nancy Deaner, chairwoman of the Neon Museum Board of Trustees. "We can hardly keep up with the volume. Pop culture enthusiasts, design students, artists all come here understanding that our project represents a whole era of American history. It's all reflected in these signs."

What began as a loose collection of neon lights cast off from businesses of yesteryear and then stored in the yard of the YESCO electric sign company has evolved into a nonprofit endeavor dedicated to collecting, preserving and exhibiting neon and incandescent signage from Las Vegas' ever-changing landscape.

When constructed, the museum itself will signal another evolutionary step. The 3 acres will feature a Neon Park with benches and green space on the corner of McWilliams Street and Las Vegas Boulevard, while the distinctive La Concha Motel lobby, deconstructed and brought to the site in 2007, will serve as the museum's visitors complex, featuring educational and interactive media on the history of neon and incandescent lighting.

The architectural firm the Friedmutter Group is donating its services to the restoration of the La Concha for the museum, while additional fundraising for the project is ongoing, with a target of $1.5 million, museum officials said. The board of trustees would like to see the museum open in late 2009.

When the Sands was imploded in 1996, the sign came here. When the Golden Nugget underwent its multi-million-dollar face lift, the corona-shaped neon found a home in the Boneyard with its fellow monarchs of signage, from the iconographic Silver Slipper to the bold lettering and easily recognizable signage from the Dune's Hotel.

There are as many as 490 pieces of lettering, signage and figures on the 3-acre site, and according to Melanie Coffee, operations manager for the Neon Museum, the collection continues to grow.

"We have gotten to a point where businesses call us to donate their signs. They want to save them," Coffee said, pointing out the original sign from the House of Lords, the legendary Las Vegas steakhouse that was once a known hangout for Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and the entire Rat Pack. The House of Lords is still in operation at the Sahara.

"Signage tells a story," Coffee said.

It's a sentiment Deaner said she firmly believes as she envisions a museum that is a living, breathing entity.

"Our intent is not to inter these pieces, to build a big white cube and install them the way you would a painting. These signs have their own dynamic energy."

This is an energy big names in fashion, entertainment and music have banked on, as magazines, music videos and the crime-drama series "C.S.I.: Las Vegas" all have used the Boneyard as a backdrop.

"C.S.I." aficionados show up almost daily to take a peek at the W from the old Showboat sign where the victim in episode No. 422 was found.

But perhaps one of the most dramatic scenes to have taken place in the Boneyard was a wedding last year, when one of the architects working on the museum project was married in the Boneyard at the foot of one of the huge die from Binion's Horseshoe and the grand neon placard from a wedding chapel.

"That was family," Deaner said. "We would definitely love to have more weddings. We're a nonprofit and events are our bread and butter."

The city donated the 3-acre site on Las Vegas Boulevard, and the museum also has received grants and donations from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the Nevada Commission for Cultural Affairs, the city of Las Vegas Centennial Committee and the Nevada Legislature.

Deaner also would like to preserve signs currently in operation, with the museum acting as caretaker of sorts while the signage still hangs in its place of business. In this way, the city's neon past would be more firmly connected to its future.

"People often ask, 'Where do I go to see Old Vegas?' I tell them it's here. It's downtown."

Currently, tours of the neon Boneyard are available by appointment only. For more information, or to arrange a tour, call 387-6366 or visit www.neonmuseum.org.