Work has been temporarily halted on the City of Las Vegas' Mob Museum, all thanks to a lawsuit from a local contractor.

This week, a judge issued a restraining order on the project so that more evidence could be heard regarding the suit.

News 3's Dan Ball has the reaction from Mayor Oscar Goodman, who has been spearheading the project.

It was once a federal courthouse and then a post office.

And if the mayor has his way, this time next year, the building on Stewart near 4th Street downtown will attract thousands of visitors each year as the Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, or "Mob Museum."

"It will bring an awful lot of attention to the community because it's part of our roots," argues Mayor Goodman. "Like it or not, we're the mob."

This week, however, the project hit a snag after a restraining order was issued by a district judge over a lawsuit filed by Flagship Construction Company.

The suit claims that the City of Las Vegas awarded a nearly $12 million remodeling project to APCO Construction, another company that made bids on the project. Flagship says it came in first in the bidding.

Now, the restraining order has halted all construction work on the museum.

Mayor Goodman claims that the city did nothing wrong and that the Mob Museum needs to be finished on time to help bring jobs and revenue to the downtown area.

"I will keep on pushing the projects and hopefully they will come to fruition before I go on to greener pastures," continues the mayor. "Philosophically, I believe we have to create work and jobs while the private sector is going through these challenging times."

Some locals agree that the museum will help:

"I think it could be a very good idea, help revitalize downtown. It certainly needs it."

"It's a great time if it's going to put people to work."

But if the lawsuit is dropped and the project moves forward, the big question is if we build it, will they come?

"It would be interesting to see how it came about and actually see all the pictures of the people behind the Al Capones and the big wigs."

"It's educational and I find it interesting. And yea, I would go."

News 3 made several attempts to contact the attorneys who represent Flagship Construction. We did not hear back from them.

The hearing that was scheduled for Friday in this case has been postponed due to scheduling conflicts between attorneys and the judge. As soon as a new date has been set, News 3 will follow up on its outcome.