LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Plans to add on to the Mob Museum are moving along and some changes have been made since the project was originally announced.
On Wednesday, museum officials gave an update to the Historic Preservation Committee.
Comments on the previous proposed design "indicated that the size and height of the hyphen connection between the addition and the historic building were overly massive and would obscure the west elevation." Another recommendation that led to design changes was moving the proposed addition to "increase visibility of the historic facade and provide a clearer distinction and subordination between new and historic."
So what was originally proposed as a two-story addition with about 35,000 square feet is now a one-story addition with a partial second floor and theatre mezzanine, which is about 20,000 square feet.
"When we hired our construction firm and did a closer examination of the site ... cost estimates for building to the west to relocate the utilities were on the order of $5 to $6 million," said Jonathan Ullman, President & CEO of the Mob Museum. "That prompted us to, I think, from the overall kind of magnitude of this project, we found that cost prohibitive, which had us revert to the east side."
Museum officials looked at this not as a setback, but an opportunity.
"One of the things that the site constraints provided us was the opportunity to integrate a lot of the feedback that was provided to create a new design that we feel strongly balances honoring the history and importance of the historic building while still meeting the needs of the new addition and the museum in the future," Ullman said.
Commissioner Misty Grimmer said the board was pleased the museum would avoid $5 million in utility relocation costs and asked a question that many locals might want to know.
"You know how I love visiting the Speakeasy so this would cover up the super secret entrance to the Speakeasy," Grimmer said. "Is that going to be relocated?"
"Yes," Ullman said with a smile. "There will be a new super secret way to get down there."
Commissioner Cheryl Purdue also asked if the mailboxes are still in the post office at the museum because it holds a special memory.
"When we moved here in 1942, my father was a forest ranger and the forestry department's office was the top two windows on the left-hand side so I frequented my father's office up there," Purdue said. "In fact, once, I threw an apple core out the window. He caught me and I got in big trouble but my mother would always go to the mailbox. It was 231. She had a key and she would open the mailbox and remove the mail. My brothers worked in the back where the marquee was at for Christmas time so it's reminiscent to see that you're keeping the building in tact and I do like what you've designed."
As for next steps, museum officials are still working through other approvals before they can start construction.