After six years of planning and more than 60 years in the making, a downtown Las Vegas museum devoted to the epic battle between the mob and law enforcement finally has a name. During today’s Las Vegas City Council meeting, the council officially approved the name, the Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, aka “The Mob Museum,” and unveiled the museum’s logo. Gala opening events are being planned surrounding the museum’s 2010 opening.

Set to open in the former federal courthouse and post office building in downtown Las Vegas, The Mob Museum is slated to be the capstone of the ongoing downtown redevelopment. Renovations are being handled by Cleveland based Westlake, Reed Leskosky-Integrated Design and Architecture, whose team members also launched both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.

The building is one of the last remaining historically significant buildings in Las Vegas. Included in both the Nevada and National Registers of Historic Places, and determined to be significant at a national level for its association with the Kefauver Committee hearings. The committee, which was named after Sen. Estes Kefauver, investigated the influence of the mob in the gaming industry. The building was in continuous use from its dedication in 1933 until late 2004, when the post office ceased operations.

Uniquely situated in the hotbed of mob history, and in part the vision of Las Vegas Mayor Oscar B. Goodman, former defense attorney for defendants alleged to be among the most powerful organized crime figures in Las Vegas, The Mob Museum will provide a balanced and candid look at the reality of organized crime across the country, how the mob shaped the building of Las Vegas, and how it was ultimately dismantled through the valiant efforts of both local and national law the enforcement. To address the challenges of this dichotomy, the board hired Pittsburgh branding firm Wall-to-Wall Studios to develop a name and identity that frankly depicts the contentious and often contradictory role of the mob in Las Vegas history.

“Las Vegas has a wonderful, colorful history, and The Mob Museum will educate visitors about the impact organized crime had on this great city,” said Mayor Goodman, who tried his first case inside the building when it served as a federal courthouse. “This isn’t done to glorify organized crime, on the contrary it is to show how law enforcement successful managed to gain the upper hand.”

Bolstered by former special agent in charge of the FBI’s Las Vegas field office Ellen Knowlton as its chairperson, the non-profit board of the museum, the 300 Stewart Avenue Corporation, is comprised of notable area persona from various sectors, including journalism, cultural planning, advertising, hospitality, government and law, even boasting one U.S. Senator among its ranks. The board has been working with the city to help develop plans for the museum.

“This is an exciting and innovative project that compliments the city’s long range plans for urban redevelopment,” Knowlton said.