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Commission awards Mob Museum $55,150 to build a digital archive and two online exhibits
Summary
The commission approved a $55,150 grant to the Mob Museum to implement a digital asset management system, launch two online exhibits and partner with UNLV interns to digitize an initial 600–1,000 assets; the museum committed $29,687 in startup contributions for year one.
The Commission for the Las Vegas Centennial approved a $55,150 grant to the Mob Museum on Jan. 27 to create a digital archive, host curated online exhibits and begin digitizing portions of the museum’s collection.
Jonathan Allman, president and CEO of the Mob Museum, outlined the project and said the museum has collected thousands of photographs, documents and video since before the museum opened. The grant will fund software licensing and implementation, local archival storage (the museum prefers locally hosted storage over cloud-only options), staff expenses, marketing and two launch events. The museum described two initial online exhibits: a federal building exhibit targeted for September and a “Battle for Las Vegas” exhibit targeted for November.
Mob Museum staff explained they have evaluated multiple digital asset management platforms and identified Piction (the budgeted option) among top choices; the grant request reflected a one-year software lease and 20 terabytes of archival storage. The museum said it secured a partnership with UNLV’s history department to provide interns who will assist with scanning and creating metadata; the first digitization batch is estimated at 600–1,000 photos and documents. The Mob Museum’s first-year startup contribution for the project is about $29,687; museum representatives said the total 2025 budget for the project is just under $85,000 when combined with the museum’s contribution. The museum said eventual licensing of images and video may become a revenue source but that licensing functionality would come later in the project rollout.
Commissioners discussed security, backup and attribution for images; the museum said it plans local hosting and watermarking or other licensing controls for high-resolution files. Commissioner disclosures were made on the record: at least one commissioner identified themselves as a founding member or board member of 300 Stuart Avenue Corporation (the Mob Museum). The commission moved, seconded and approved the grant; the motion passed with recorded “aye” votes and no opposition noted in the transcript.
