May 3rd, 2022
On March 17th, 2022, Lorenzo Creighton, Former President and Chief Operating Officer of the Flamingo Hotel, O’ Sheas Casino, and New York New York Hotel visited the Boneyard and met with members from the Museum’s Education Department.
Creighton has an extensive career in the gaming industry, having run various casinos across the country. Creighton ran the Lady Luck Hotel and Casino in Mississippi and assisted Don Barden, the last owner of Fitzgeralds, in acquiring his first casino in Indiana. Creighton has a special connection to The Neon Museum. While he was President and COO of the Flamingo, the hotel was renovated, leading to the donation of the Raul Rodriguez-designed neon signs (currently on display in the Boneyard )
Creighton recounted his memories working in Las Vegas in the early 2000s and, what the Strip was like in the immediate post-9/11 era shared his experience running one of the oldest resorts on the Strip and what it took to run a thriving resort in Las Vegas. The Museum’s Collection’s Manager, Emily Fellmer, took the opportunity to ask Creighton about the provenance of the Flamingo signs at the Boneyard and asked Creighton where they had been located in situ. Creighton’s visit to the museum was a fantastic opportunity to hear the first-hand account from a gaming executive with decades of experience at the finest casinos in the world.
If you would like to see any of the signs mentioned at The Neon Museum, the Lady Luck sign and several signs from Fitzgeralds and the Flamingo are on display in the Museum’s Boneyard and are accessible during hours of operation. The O’Sheas and New York New York Hotel signs are a part of The Neon Museum’s collection and are located in the North Gallery, which is only accessible during the running of Brilliant! Jackpot.
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