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The first redaction obscures the word "mob."
"I don't think anybody is able to do tongue-in-cheek the way Las Vegas can do it," said Mayor Oscar Goodman, a former criminal defense lawyer who represented organized crime figures before representing voters in City Hall.
The museum showcasing southern Nevada's colorful and storied Mafia past is expected to open in spring 2010 in downtown Las Vegas, at the site of a former federal courthouse where Goodman tried his first case.
As city officials unveiled the plans, council members tossed around T-shirts that said: "There is no such thing as a mob museum nor have I ever been there."
Plans for the museum are supported by the FBI, which has pledged to locate organized crime artifacts in Washington and lend them for museum displays. The former head of the Las Vegas FBI office, Ellen Knowlton, is chairwoman of the museum's board. Goodman has pushed for the museum since 2002.
Officials say the museum won't glorify organized crime, but instead will give a candid look at its influence on Las Vegas, how law enforcement worked to extract illegal influences from gambling, how mob operations in various cities around the country were connected and famous hearings on organized crime.
The city believes the museum could draw as many as 800,000 visitors each year. It's part of an attempt to revitalize downtown Las Vegas.
Its mob theme was picked after a poll of 300 tourists showed more than 70 percent ranking the idea among its top three concepts. Other options included a behind-the-scenes look at gambling, a magic museum or a museum dedicated to Las Vegas icons such as Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley.
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On the Net:
http://themobmuseum.org/
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