The Liberace Museum is located in Paradise, Nevada, a census-designated place in Las Vegas Valley. It houses many stage costumes, cars, jewelry, lavishly decorated pianos and numerous citations for philanthropic acts that belonged to the American entertainer and pianist Wladziu Valentino Liberace, better known as Liberace.
The non-profit museum funds the Liberace Foundation for the Performing and Creative Arts. The museum closed to the public on October 17, 2010, due to Las Vegas' sluggish economy and a drop in admissions.
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Liberace himself opened the museum on April 15, 1979. His brother George became the director. The museum is part of the Liberace Plaza, where his restaurant was also located. The museum has two buildings: The Jewelry and Costume Gallery, and the other building where the pianos and cars are showcased. The Tivoli Gardens Restaurant still exists without Liberace's name, and is privately owned.
On October 17, 2010, the Liberace Museum closed "indefinitely, but not forever" according to Liberace Foundation Board of Directors Chairman Jeffrey Koep.[1] The closure was announced due to economic downturn and a decline in the number of visitors. A tour of the Liberace collection is planned.[2][3] The museum's board of directors is continuing to seek a new home for the museum on Las Vegas strip, but the efforts have thus far been unsuccessful.
On the day of the closing, Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Doug Elfman noted that several overly enthusiastic fans attempted to remove some of the small mirrors decorating Liberace's Rolls-Royce, and another tried to steal a hood ornament from a car on display. When the museum officially closed at 4:00 PM, a freak thunderstorm hit the valley, and a double rainbow was seen in the sky.[4]
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