Offering a sad commentary on the state of the Star Trek franchise, the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas will shut down Star Trek* *: The Experience this fall.
Part simulator, part environment, part museum and (of course) part gift shop/restaurant, the Experience opened 10 years ago during the height of popularity for the* Star Trek: The Next Generation* movies. The exhibit gave fans a chance to examine a Trek time line with a collection of sci-fi relics. Then visitors could talk to a Klingon over a drink after strolling across the bridge of the Enterprise.
But, the exhibit isn't drawing the fans it once did -- just as the franchise is fading off the public radar. While J.J. Abrams is hustling to save* Star Trek* on the big screen, it's too late to save it in Vegas.
The collection of props, costumed "aliens" and adventure simulators was a welcome, nerd-friendly escape from the hustling sleaze and nonstop pinging of slot machines filling the rest of the town. There's no word what will be done with the emptied retail space in the Hilton, but the museum props, ship mock-ups and other bits of Trek history will be returned to Paramount.
CBS/Paramount statements indicate the search is on for the Experience's new home.
Photo courtesy John David Lewinski
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