Historic building unwrapped
The outside work on the historic post office and courthouse is done, as officials on Monday pulled down part of the white wrap that has shrouded the downtown building for the past several months.
Work now will begin on restoring the interior of the former federal building, which was dedicated on Armistice Day in 1933 and has been renamed the POST Modern.
The renovations are expected to cost upward of $30 million.
City officials describe the result as a museum that will look at the history of Las Vegas.
Mayor Oscar Goodman unabashedly calls it a “Mob Museum,” though the exhibits’ exact designs have yet to be completed.
Goodman, Councilman Ricki Barlow and a group of youngsters visiting from New York City pulled on a cord Monday morning, revealing window frames painted their original green, newly restored glass panes and a cleaned up exterior.
Nancy Deaner, the city’s manager of the office of cultural affairs, said the wrap protected the inside of the building while the windows were sent to Denver for restoration. The covering also prevented asbestos and other hazardous material from getting out of the building.
The money for this phase of the project was provided by the State Historic Preservation Office through a fund from the National Park Service, the State Commission for Cultural Affairs and the Las Vegas Centennial Commission, according to officials. The city so far has spent $3.6 million on the building.
Funding for the rest of the project hasn’t been identified yet. Deaner said project is expected to be completed in 2009.
Goodman hopes the museum will help draw people downtown. When a radio reporter asked him why have a mob-themed museum downtown, he asked her: “If this was a watercolor museum, would you come down?”
