Las Vegas , Nevada ( CNN ) -- This weekend marks the end of an era for many fans of the iconic Liberace . The Las Vegas museum dedicated to preserving the glitz , the glamour and even the gaudiness that defined the entertainer 's career is closing Sunday after more than 30 years . Despite his dynamic history , the draw of the Liberace Museum has been eclipsed by some of Vegas ' increasingly lavish attractions . Low attendance is the primary factor in the decision to close the museum , Liberace Foundation President Jack Rappaport said . Liberace himself opened the museum in 1979 , and in its prime , it brought in 450,000 visitors a year . `` We 've dwindled down to 50,000 , '' Rappaport said . He blames the low attendance on the museum 's location three miles off Las Vegas Boulevard , commonly known as the Strip . `` We are just geographically not desirable , '' he said . [ When the museum opened in 1979 ] we were n't competition for the Strip . We actually complemented the Strip . '' Rappaport feels that the megaresort style of the new casinos of Las Vegas -- with high-end shopping , an abundance of restaurants , shows and other museum-type attractions -- gives tourists everything they could need . `` It 's kind of like going to Disney World or Disneyland resort . You go there , and you do n't really have to go anywhere else . '' If there is a bright side , it 's that since the closing was announced weeks ago , attendance has nearly tripled , according to one tour guide 's estimate . A significant number of this influx are locals who 've lived in Vegas for decades but never made it to the museum . But positive attendance news in the 11th hour does n't change the fact that for most of the 23 employees , not only will they be out of a job , they 'll be out of a way to educate people on a man they 've come to admire . `` I mean , [ Liberace ] was Las Vegas , '' museum director Tanya Combs said . `` Reading everything and seeing everything ... you start to believe in what a nice man he was , and you really wanted everyone to know that . '' Museum archivist and historian Pauline Lachance has been the go-to gal for anything and everything Liberace . `` He 's made such an impact on my life ; it 's unbelievable . I get kind of choked up talking about him , '' she said . She could tell you about all sorts of things , from `` Walter '' Valentino Liberace 's early life as a piano prodigy to his prime years as the highest-paid entertainer in the world , with the highest flamboyance factor to boot . He was a man who , in the midst of a battle with HIV , sold out New York 's Radio City Music Hall so fast that his record still stands . Lachance 's very first experience with Mr. Showmanship himself was a night that almost did n't happen . `` I really did n't want to go , '' she recalls of the show her husband roped her into attending . But that evening sparked a passion , some might say obsession , for the king of bling . Up until his death in 1987 at 67 , she attended no fewer than 50 of his shows . `` All you need to do is go to one performance , and you want to go to every one after that . He just captivates you with his charm and his music . '' After the museum closes Sunday , Lachance will continue to work for the Liberace Foundation part-time . But there will be no more camera-wielding visitors oohing and aahing over Liberace 's rhinestone-studded piano , complete with matching costume and Roadster . See an iReporter 's snapshots of the glitzy museum . The musician 's remarkable costumes became more elaborate as the decades went on , some taking more than a year to construct . Throughout his career , he played eight major hotels in Las Vegas , with his longest run at the Las Vegas Hilton . In addition to establishing the museum in Vegas , Liberace set up a foundation to provide scholarship money to students of the arts . To date , the foundation has given more than $ 6 million to more than 2,700 students . But what it 's able to offer these days has diminished significantly . Two years ago , the scholarship fund amounted to $ 112,000 . The following year , that number dropped to $ 62,000 . Rappaport said people can rest assured that the museum 's collection -- which includes more than 60 of Liberace 's intricate eye-popping costumes , his 9-foot mirrored Baldwin grand piano and his 7-foot rhinestone studded Baldwin grand -- wo n't go into hiding for too long . A traveling tour of part of the collection is planned . The tour might be under way as early as summer 2011 , according to Jeffrey Koep , chairman of the Liberace Foundation board of directors . A new incarnation of the museum is n't out of the question . `` The board felt it best to close while we are still solvent and create a new business plan as we examine ways to sell our current location and search for locations that would allow for more patrons , '' Koep said in an e-mail . Tour guide Howard Shapiro said he was n't terribly surprised that the museum in its current form wo n't be around forever , but he agrees that Liberace is too much a part of Sin City to be totally forgotten . `` Las Vegas has a history of tearing down and not preserving . It 's a sad commentary , but that 's what this town is about , reinventing itself , '' Shapiro said . `` I would n't be surprised if somewhere down the line , Liberace gets reinvented again . By whom and how , I do n't know . But it is sad to see it close . ''
Elvis Museum in Las Vegas , Nevada , is closing Sunday . The museum was opened by the singer Elvis in 1969 . Low attendance is a key reason for closing . A traveling exhibition of the museum 's collection is planned for next year .