Government Refuses to Restore Hoover Dam “Star Map” It Demolished
The Hoover Dam Monument Plaza site has been closed to the public since March 2020.
It’s now been five months since we launched our “Save the Star Map” campaign in July to urge the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation (the government agency that oversees Hoover Dam) to complete its stalled restoration of Oskar J. W. Hansen’s masterpiece terrazzo “Star Map” sculpture at Hoover Dam.
Public Raises Concern
The launch of our campaign received positive coverage in multiple news stories on Las Vegas Channel 8 TV, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and the Boulder City Review.
Despite such strong media attention, government project managers at Hoover Dam have continued to stall any progress on the restoration, leaving the demolished sculpture at significant risk of never being properly restored and eroding public confidence that the most-visited terrazzo artwork in the world will ever be seen again.
It has been over a year since contractors demolished the terrazzo artwork in 2022, throwing the remnants in dumpsters. No progress has been made on the site since then, the contractor’s project has been terminated, and Hoover Dam’s popular monument plaza remains a gated construction site—with Oskar Hansen’s beloved “Star Map” and enormous bronze “Winged Figures of the Republic” statues unable to be seen up close by tourists since the COVID lockdown of March 2020.
In reaction to our July “Save the Star Map” campaign, a government media spokesperson stated:
“Reclamation anticipates the work will resume in the coming months. The monument is a National Historic Landmark and Reclamation is committed to responsibly restoring all of its elements. We look forward to reopening the plaza when the work is done.”
Remnants of Oskar J. W. Hansen’s terrazzo “Star Map” masterpiece during its 2022 demolition.
Government Continues to Stall
Weeks after releasing that statement, the project contract was terminated, and the government prohibited the terminated contractor from communicating with us, leaving the monument plaza site with no plan for restoration to continue.
The government is not taking the threat to this historic landmark and artistic masterpiece seriously. We hope you will join our “Save the Star Map” campaign and help persuade government project leaders to get the restoration restarted.
How to Help Save the Star Map
Here are a few simple ways you can help Save the Star Map:
Email Hoover Dam officials at the Bureau of Reclamation and ask them to get the project back on track.
Write your Members of Congress and ask them to urge the Bureau of Reclamation to restart the project.
Contact the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office and ask them to help complete the project.
Share this page on your social media.
Sign up for our email newsletter to hear about the Save the Star Map campaign updates and other Oskar J. W. Hansen research updates from the archives.
