FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“This Building of Ours: The Story of a Las Vegas Landmark”
(Photo courtesy of The Mob Museum)
THE MOB MUSEUM ANNOUNCES “THIS BUILDING OF OURS: THE STORY OF A LAS VEGAS LANDMARK” DOCUMENTARY TO AIR ON VEGAS PBS, TUESDAY, SEPT. 10
Documentary Chronicles Historic Building’s Transformation from Post Office, Courthouse into The Mob Museum
Museum Launches New Exhibit in Conjunction with Documentary
For downloadable photos, click here
LAS VEGAS (September 2024) – The Mob Museum, the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, announces its new documentary, “This Building of Ours: The Story of a Las Vegas Landmark,” will air on Vegas PBS twice on Tuesday, Sept. 10. The first airing is at 9 p.m. following the presidential debate and PBS’s “Finding your Roots,” and again at 11:07 p.m. This compelling feature-length film, produced in collaboration with Boyd Productions and funded in large part by The Commission for the Las Vegas Centennial, explores the rich history of one of Las Vegas’ most iconic buildings, originally serving as the city’s first U.S. post office and courthouse.
Celebrating the building’s multifaceted legacy – from its opening on Nov. 11, 1933, to its pivotal roles in historical events and transformation into The Mob Museum – the documentary premiered at a private showing in the very courtroom where one of the Kefauver Committee hearings took place. These seminal hearings exposed the prevalence of organized crime around the United States in the early 1950s.
“This Building of Ours” is also available on YouTube.
“We envisioned ‘This Building of Ours’ as a tribute to one of Las Vegas’ most storied buildings and a lens through which to tell the story of Las Vegas,” said Geoff Schumacher, vice president of exhibits and programs at The Mob Museum.
The federal building served as a community resource and gathering place for seven decades before its transformation into The Mob Museum. “We wanted to show that the building continues to fulfill its historic role as a cornerstone of community and education in Las Vegas,” Schumacher added.
As the documentary relates, the federal building not only played host to a Kefauver Committee hearing in 1950 but also served as the setting for other high-profile hearings and trials. Before he became the U.S. president, Harry Truman held several hearings in the courtroom as a senator investigating defense spending during World War II. Maverick newspaper publisher Hank Greenspun battled the Mob and a political rival in separate trials in the 1950s, while Rat Pack leader Frank Sinatra testified before a grand jury in the 1960s.
The film features rarely seen historic images, film footage and interviews with an array of historians and individuals who share memories about the federal building and its transformation into The Mob Museum.
In addition to the film, The Mob Museum introduced a new exhibit revealing important aspects of the building’s historical significance. This exhibit, located on the second floor, aims to enhance visitor understanding of the building’s architectural and cultural importance, highlighting its role in major national news events, subsequent adaptation into a museum attracting more than 400,000 visitors annually and inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. The exhibit features artifacts linked to the building, including a Prohibition-era liquor bottle discovered inside a wall during the building’s restoration in the early 2000s. The exhibit was funded by both The Commission for the Las Vegas Centennial and Nevada Humanities.
ABOUT THE MOB MUSEUM
The Mob Museum, the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, provides a world-class journey through true stories—from the birth of the Mob to today’s headlines. The Mob Museum offers a provocative, contemporary look at these topics through hundreds of artifacts and immersive storylines. Numerous interactive exhibits include a Crime Lab, Firearm Training Simulator and Organized Crime Today exhibit. The Museum is also home to The Underground, a Prohibition history exhibition featuring a speakeasy and distillery. The Mob Museum has accumulated numerous accolades, including being named one of Tripadvisor’s “Top 25 U.S. Museums” and a 2024 “Travelers’ Choice” Award recipient; one of Las Vegas Weekly’s “Twenty Greatest Attractions in Las Vegas History” and “Best Museum” of 2021, 2023 and 2024; Vegas Magazine’s “Best Historical Museum” of 2024; one of National Geographic’s “Top 10 Things to Do in Las Vegas;” USA Today’s “Best Museum in Nevada,” 10Best Readers’ Choice travel awards for “Best Las Vegas Attraction” in 2021 and 2022, “Top Five Best History Museums in the United States” in 2021 and one of its “12 Can’t Miss U.S. Museum Exhibits;” named “A Must for Travelers” by The New York Times and one of “20 Places Every American Should See” by FOX News. The Museum is a two-time winner of the Mayor’s Urban Design Award for Historic Preservation and Adaptive Reuse and is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The Museum is open daily; visit the website for admission rates and operating hours. For more information, call (702) 229-2734, visit themobmuseum.org, or download the Museum’s free mobile app.
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