IT WAS RECENTLY ANNOUNCED THAT THE ICONIC TOURIST ATTRACTION AND VENERABLE LAS VEGAS INSTITUTION, THE LIBERACE MUSEUM, WILL BE SHUTTING DOWN NEXT MONTH. THE BEJEWELED GLITTER-FILLED MUSEUM CAN NO LONGER AFFORD TO STAY OPEN PUTTING 30 PEOPLE OUT OF A JOB. THE UNIQUE BUILDING TOPPED OFF BY A KEYBOARD AND FULL OF LIBERACE'S SEQUINED COSTUMES, JEWELRY, AND FAMOUS RHINESTONE-COVERED PIANOS AND CARS. THE MUSEUM IS OPERATED BY THE LIBERACE FOUNDATION, WHICH HAS DECIDED TO NARROW ITS FOCUS TO RAISING MONEY FOR THE MUSIC SCHOLARSHIPS IT HAS AWARDED FOR DECADES. LIBERACE FOUNDATION BOARD CHAIRMAN JEFFREY KOEP TOLD AOL NEWS THE ORGANIZATION'S ENDOWMENT HAS SHRUNK FROM $12 MILLION TO $5 MILLION AND VISITORS HAD PLUMMETED TO 50,000 LAST YEAR. THE FOUNDATION OWNS THE ENTIRE STRIP MALL WHERE THE MUSEUM IS LOCATED ABOUT THREE MILES WEST OF THE LAS VEGAS STRIP. SOME ARTIFACTS INCLUDING LIBERACE'S AWARDS, PIANOS, CANDELABRAS AND COSTUMES, MAY BE SHOWN IN OTHER CITIES ON A SPECIAL TOUR. BUT THE INTEREST IN THE MUSEUM HAS BEEN WANING IN RECENT YEARS. THERE ARE PLANS FOR A STEVEN SODERBERGH BIOPIC ABOUT LIBERACE WITH MICHAEL DOUGLAS AS THE PIANIST AND MATT DAMON AS HIS LOVER THAT COULD RENEW INTEREST IN THE PERFORMER BUT OVERALL LIBERACE IS SEEN AS A SYMBOL OF THE OLDER, GAUDIER MORE DECADENT LAS VEGAS THAT THE HOTELS AND CASINOS HAVE TRIED TO DISTANCE THEMSELVES FROM OVER THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS.
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