LAS VEGAS – The monumental Stardust letters—one of The Neon Museum’s most iconic Neon Boneyard sign exhibits—have been re-lamped and are now illuminated daily. These letters join the growing number of restored and illuminated Las Vegas neon signs on display in the Boneyard.
To re-lamp the eight, letters, which range in height from 14 to 18-feet, Hartlauer Signs used more than 1,100 energy-efficient, 3-watt cold cathode compact fluorescent (CCFL) bulbs. Their original location on the building and the year they were put on it are currently unknown. The sign originally used 25-watt incandescent bulbs. In the course of this partial restoration, Hartlauer Signs found flashers, electrical devices enabling the oscillating effect associated with bulbed signs. Now, visitors to the Boneyard can see the Stardust illuminated just how it appeared when it last functioned on the Las Vegas Strip.
Founded in 1996, the Neon Museum is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to collecting, preserving, studying and exhibiting iconic Las Vegas signs for educational, historic, arts and cultural enrichment. It has been named “Best Museum” by Las Vegas Weekly, one of “Sin City’s Best Retro Sites” by MSN, “No. 1 Las Vegas Museum Sure to Entertain and Educate” by USA Today’s 10best.com, “One of the Top 10 Coolest Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do” by Forbes.com, one of the “Top 10 Historic Spots in Las Vegas” by Vegas.com; one of “15 Most Fascinating Museums in the U.S.” by VacationIdea.com; and earns a consistent 4.5 out of 5 rating on TripAdvisor. On its 2.27-acre campus, the Neon Museum houses an outdoor exhibition space known as the Neon Boneyard (“boneyard” is traditionally the name for an area where items no longer in use are stored); the North Gallery, home to the nighttime augmented-reality, audiovisual spectacle, “Brilliant!”; the Boulevard Gallery outdoor exhibit and event space; and its visitors’ center, housed inside the former La Concha Motel lobby. The museum collection also includes nine restored signs installed as public art throughout downtown Las Vegas. Public education, outreach, research, archival preservation and a grant-funded neon sign survey represent a selection of the museum’s ongoing projects. Both the Neon Boneyard and the La Concha Visitors’ Center are located at 770 Las Vegas Blvd. North in Las Vegas.
