The Strip to showcase historic Las Vegas signs

The Neon Museum proudly announces a new partnership with Fashion Show to showcase restored, historic Las Vegas signs on the Las Vegas Strip. Beginning in spring 2017, the two entities will make Fashion Show's newly renovated Plaza the first place on the iconic Las Vegas Strip to showcase signs from the Neon Museum's collection.

The partnership will feature a rotating lineup of restored, historic signs from the museum's collection, launching with the installation of "Red Barn" in June. This sign will be on view on the Fashion Show Plaza for several months, after which it will be replaced with a different restored sign from the Neon Museum's collection.

The Red Barn opened in the late 1950s as an antique store at 1317 Tropicana Avenue and was converted into a bar in the early 1960s. By 1969, it had evolved into one of the first openly gay bars in Las Vegas. It offered drag shows, such as the very popular "RB Follies," and it provided a place for the gay community to socialize. The Red Barn also published the "RB Rag," one of the earliest gay magazines in Southern Nevada. The bar closed in March 1988, and its restored iconic martini glass sign is now a part of the Neon Museum's collection.

"For decades, the Las Vegas Strip earned notoriety for tearing down and removing historic buildings and the neon signs associated with them," said Rob McCoy, president and chief executive officer, Neon Museum. "With this effort, Fashion Show takes a step toward reversing that trend by re-introducing iconic and historic neon signage to the Strip, where they can be enjoyed by tens of millions of visitors."

"Fashion Show has been the epicenter for up-and-coming cultural trends in Las Vegas for decades," says Jim Heilmann, Senior General Manager at Fashion Show. "Now, we are thrilled to join forces with the Neon Museum and continue to reinvent what customers expect from a retail center. This partnership represents more to us than just a display of art; it's a truly collaborative effort to create unique experiences for visitors not only to Fashion Show, but also to the museum and the destination as a whole."

The Red Barn sign will stand 20 feet tall on an outdoor platform near Neiman Marcus, facing one of the most trafficked corners of the Las Vegas Strip. Available as an iconic photo stop or reflective spot, the fully functioning relic will also light nightly at dusk, accompanied by a spectacular light show and coordinated digital display on Fashion Show's large-scale LED screens.