Guggenheim closing

Monday, May 12, 2003 | 11:13 a.m.

The Venetian hotel on the Las Vegas Strip announced Friday it will turn its Guggenheim museum into a showroom for stage productions.

The museum was a joint venture between the luxury hotel and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City.

"I'm still very proud of the Guggenheim Museum, but it didn't have the commercial viability I though it would," said Venetian President Rob Goldstein.

The Guggenheim Las Vegas opened in September, 2001 and was to showcase pop-culture exhibitions.

The hangar-like space, designed by renowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, cost $25 million. It's first exhibit was "The Art of the Motorcycle," and most recently it displayed a 39-painting exhibit called "Art Through the Ages."

The museum closed in January due to a lack of funds and low attendance. The museum will reopen as a theater.

A much smaller Guggenheim Hermitage Museum, also in the Venetian, will remain open. That museum displays works by old-world masters.

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