Sahara in Vegas donating sign to Neon Museum

LAS VEGAS - Owners of the closed Sahara hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip plan to donate one of the property's iconic signs to the Neon Museum, a collection of Sin City's most well-known historic markers.

SBE Entertainment officials told The Associated Press that the donation is part of celebrating the cultural significance of the casino that closed last month after 59 years.

The sign faced Sahara Avenue at the back of the casino, near a porte-cochere.

Neon Museum Chairman Bill Marion says the sign is a classic example of Las Vegas' storied past and the historic art form of neon signs.

The museum, also known as the Neon Boneyard, is often referred to as the place where neon signs go to die.

Signs there include the sign for the Moulin Rouge, the city's first racially integrated casino, and Binion's Horseshoe. It also includes signs from other businesses that weren't casinos, but used intricate neon lighting.

The donation comes as SBE mulls what to do with the space on the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip, near projects that have been stalled as the city deals with a struggling tourism market.

The Sahara opened in 1952 and became well-known for its lounges and A-list celebrity following. The Beatles stayed there when they gave a concert in Las Vegas, and Louis Prima and Don Rickles were fixtures of the casino's entertainment. The showroom stage also hosted Sonny and Cher and Judy Garland, and the casino was featured in the Rat Pack-era film Ocean's Eleven.

Since the closure, the owners have brought in a liquidation firm to help sell everything inside, from $3 decks of cards to $150 table lamps with camel-shaped bases.