FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LIBERACE MUSEUM UNDERGOING
MAJOR EXPANSION AND RENOVATIONLAS VEGAS, NV --The Liberace Foundation for the Performing and Creative Arts' board of directors has chosen LEO A DALY, an architecture, planning, engineering and interior design firm for the expansion and renovation of The Liberace Museum, located in Las Vegas, Nevada. The team will be led by architect Francis (Frank) Xavier Dumont, AIA, a renowned entertainment and gaming designer who heads LEO A DALY's Las Vegas office. Oakview Construction, Inc., has been selected as contractor for the project.
The Liberace Museum was founded in 1979 when the late performer was at the height of his popularity. It quickly became one of Las Vegas's most popular tourist attractions. The Museum was tripled in size after Liberace's death in 1987 to 15,000 square feet. The new expansion will bring the total square footage to 21,000.
Nicknamed "Mr. Showmanship," Liberace was considered by many to be one of the greatest entertainers of the 20th Century. The non-profit Liberace Museum celebrates Liberace's legacy and supports the work of The Liberace Foundation for the Performing and Creative Arts, which has awarded more than $4 million in scholarships for the arts since 1976.
According to architect Frank Dumont, "We are truly honored to be redesigning and renovating The Liberace Museum, which is a timepiece of American popular culture. Over 100,000 loyal fans visit it every year and after 21 years it needs a new look. This project is an entertainment designer's dream -- to recreate Liberace's career and legacy in built form!"
The Liberace Foundation board of directors unanimously chose LEO A DALY based on Dumont's idea of physically capturing the virtuosity of a Liberace musical performance -- curvilinear shapes covered in a vast flowing musical score, with piano keys playfully dancing across the facade. According to Dumont, music has been made into a tangible human experience.
The cylindrical glass entrance foyer is surmounted by an oversized pink piano and a giant rendition of Liberace's famous signature. Every element of the design is grand and overscaled to evoke the late entertainer's flamboyant style and musical accomplishments.
The Museum houses Liberace's extraordinary collection of jewelry, antiques, costumes, pianos and cars. Eighteen of Liberace's rarest pianos, from the 39 in his collection, are on display including his favorite, a hand-painted French Pleyel Concert Grand. Visitors can also see Liberace's Austrian rhinestone-covered Baldwin, used in the finale of his last performance at Radio City Music Hall. Among the famous sequined, jeweled and feathered costumes is Liberace's black diamond mink lined in more than 40,000 2 1/2 karat Austrian rhinestones.
The exhibit space will be increased to accommodate traveling exhibitions for the first time. An outdoor entertainment plaza and cafe will be added, The Museum Store will be expanded, and a "Walk of Honors" comprised of Bronze plaques that mark Liberace's career highlights and achievements will be created.
According to Liberace Foundation and Museum Executive Director Sandra Harris, "Our challenge is to appeal to new and younger audiences who never had a chance to see Liberace perform. When Liberace was alive The Museum was run by him and his family," Harris said. "It focused on his career and his fans...but we're at a phase of our history now where a lot of the audience we are getting, or want to get, never saw him perform and don't know much about him."
We're facing the time where we have to decide: how do we 'repackage' and talk about Liberace in new ways to appeal to these other people? We want to make Liberace more relevant to today's and tomorrow's audiences -- and the new expanded Liberace Museum should help do that.
The groundbreaking is scheduled for May 12, 2001, with the anticipated completion in late summer of 2001. The Liberace Museum will remain open during construction -- Monday - Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Minimum tax deductible donations are $8.00 for adults, $5.00 for seniors, age 60 and over, or students. Admission is free for children under 12 when accompanied by an adult, as well as Museum members. Special group rates are available to parties of 25 or more.
The Liberace Museum
1775 East Tropicana Avenue (at Spencer)
Las Vegas, Nevada 89119-6529
Website: www.liberace.org.*****
LEO A DALY's current project portfolio in Las Vegas includes the Sun Coast Hotel and Casino, and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Lied Library which opened January 2001. Other recent work includes The Orleans Hotel and Casino, McCarran International Airport Satellite D Terminal D and the Pahrump Community Library.