What will to happen to the Siegfried and Roy statue now that the Mirage is closed?

LAS VEGAS ( KLAS ) — As the Mirage closed its doors for the final time earlier in the week , many locals and tourists alike may be wondering what is going to happen to some of the iconic statues and signs from the property.

Hard Rock International announced Friday it would be donating several artifacts, including the Siegfried and Roy tiger statue, from the Mirage Hotel and Casino to the Neon Museum.

According to a release by the company, pieces of the iconic Strip property will live on within the Neon Museum, a Las Vegas non-profit organization dedicated to collecting, preserving, studying, and exhibiting iconic Las Vegas signs.

“Hard Rock is very pleased to contribute The Mirage artifacts to The Neon Museum,” Joe Lupo, President of Mirage Hotel and Casino, said. “This iconic property that transformed the Las Vegas Strip can be remembered forever and we appreciate them preserving one of our city’s greatest treasures.”

Working with the PENTA Building Group, the general contractor currently slated for most of the demolition of The Mirage and the construction of the new Hard Rock International Hotel & Casino, and the PENTA CARES Foundation, three artifacts from the property will be taken to the museum.

The Neon Museum will receive the following artifacts:

• A 17-foot-tall sculpture of Siegfried & Roy with a giant white tiger, which was dedicated on October 27, 1993 from then-owner and hotel founder Steve Wynn.
• The 30-foot-tall Mirage hotel entrance arch sign, which has welcomed guests in from Las Vegas Boulevard for the past 34 years.
• The 27-foot-long Mirage neon sign that sat in The Mirage’s Volcano Lagoon. The Volcano entertained visitors four times nightly while the volcano blasted fire, smoke, water and light.

The release stated additional statues and pieces will be donated to the museum after the property’s public art auction in September.

Hard Rock International bought The Mirage, which first opened its doors on Nov. 22, 1989, from MGM Resorts International for $1.075 billion, a deal announced in late 2021 that received final approval in December 2022 .

The company has intentions to reimagine the hotel, including the construction of a nearly 700-foot tall guitar-shaped guest room tower where the current volcano and lagoon stand, by mid to late 2027, according to Hard Rock International Chairman Jim Allen.

The new resort already achieved another milestone. The Florida-based Seminole Tribe owns Hard Rock International making it the first Native American-owned casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

According to Aaron Berger, the Executive Director of The Neon Museum, museum staff first met with Hard Rock leadership to discuss preservation of the pieces in July 2023.

“Due to the generosity and collaborative spirit of Hard Rock and PENTA & PENTA CARES, these tremendous artifacts representing The Mirage and Siegfried & Roy will be protected and live on in the Museum’s collection,” Berger said. “Future generations will be able to learn about ‘the oasis in the desert’ and how it changed hospitality design in Las Vegas and the world.”

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