Las Vegas Weekly

A museum for every crime

Illustration: Jerry Miller

Why stop at a mob museum? If the Mayor is right, if we can launder the city’s grubby soul into squeaky-clean tourist coin, why not capitalize on the full range of immorality Vegas offers? Name me the Midwestern tourist who wouldn’t patronize a Gallery of Contemporary Prostitution (the gift shop would be mobbed). Likewise, a Museum of Celebrity Misbehavior. That one’s gonna require a lot of space—the wings for O.J., Britney and Paris (“Mommy, the animatronic lady is peeing in a potted plant!”) would each dwarf any art museum this town’s ever seen. You might not think the Political Corruption Petting Zoo would be an immediate tourist draw, but if we site it where it belongs—at the airport, in a concession space juiced by friends of the county commission—it should see monster traffic. We could go on: a Museum of Modern Land Abuse (“Thrill to our interactive eminent-domain exhibit!”), a Hall of Colonoscopy Scams, a Permanent Exhibit of Heinous Murders With Amazing Links to Vegas. Pursued aggressively, this museum idea could make the city a leader in cultural tourism. Just one mob museum, Oscar?! Why think small?