Friend of Classic Las Vegas Monthly Meeting

 

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The Friends of Classic Las Vegas will be having their monthly General meeting on Sunday, January 11th.

We would like to invite everyone to join us to help us put together our presevation plans for 2009. We encourage you to bring a friend as well!

Our guest this Sunday will be Ky Plaskon who has written a book, "Silent Heroes of the Cold War", which is about the plane crash on Mt. Charleston that occurred in the late 1950s and was classified top secret for over forty years.

Sunday, January 11th

2:00 pm

Nevada State Museum

Auditorium

700 Twin Lakes Dr

Lorenzi Park

 

Refreshments will be served!

We hope to see you there!

 

Frazier Hall has been destroyed

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was the first building on the campus of Nevada Southern University.  It was designed by famed Las Vegas architects Zick and Sharp.  It was named for a woman who made education her cause, Maude Frazier.  She is beloved by the many people who knew her, were influenced by her education first cause and who had better lives for coming under her tutelage.

For the last year and a half, preservationists have been trying to save Maude Frazier Hall from the wrecking ball.  The majority of colleges around the country usually save the first building that was built on their campus.  Many see it as a timeline and a yard stick for how far a college has come from its humble beginnings.  Whether small or large, well-known or not, colleges usually take pride in preserving and utilizing their first campus building.

Well, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (formerly Nevada Southern University) is not in that league.  They are in a league of their own.  Word has just come from FCLV member Dennis McBride that UNLV is in the process of tearing down Frazier Hall.  Dennis says that the majority of students and employees on campus had no idea the demolition was taking place today.

FCLV member Mary Martinez, Anthropology instructor Heidi Swank, the Atomic Age Alliance, Thalia Dondero, Jack LeVine, Donna Andress and the alumni of Las Vegas High are all to be commended for their efforts in trying to save this important building.

I 'd be willing to bet there is no joy in Las Vegas preservation circles this afternoon.

Maude Frazier Hall

1957 to 2009

R.I.P.

 

 

Special thanks to UNLV Special Collections and Joel Rosales at Leavinglv.net for letting us use this images.

The Frontier Sign Comes Down

 

 

Steve Wynn put up the money to have the iconic Frontier sign taken down so that the sign would not block the view of his latest hotel-casino tower, Encore.  Wynn considered the sign an "eyesore".

The sign, a 186-feet tall, was taken down in sections.  We are still trying to confirm if the sign will be donated to the Neon Museum.  From what we understand, that decision has yet to be made.

The sign was one of the oldest still standing on the famed Las Vegas Strip and harkened back to the days when the giant neon signs could be seen down the highway for miles.  A combination of flicker bulbs and neon, the sign was designed by Bill Clark of Ad-Art. The sign contained more than a mile of flourescent tubing, a mile and a half of neon and more than 23,000 light bulbs. The 30- foot tall F at the top of the sign rotated on a specially built mechanism. An enormous caisson was installed to keep the sign from toppling over in a Las Vegas windstorm.

For more information on the history of the Frontier Hotel:

http://classiclasvegas.squarespace.com/display/ShowJournal?moduleId=1093544&currentPage=4

 

Special thanks to RoadsidePictures for letting us use this image.


 

Friends of Classic Las Vegas Holiday Meeting

Join us for our annual FCLV General Meeting and Holiday party.

Our special guest will be historian Mark Hall-Patton who will give a talk on the history of street names around the Las Vegas Valley. So if you're wondering who streets like Bracken, Campbell and others were named for, join us on Sunday Dec. 14th.

FCLV General Meeting and Holiday Party

December 14th

2:00 pm

The meeting is being hosted by FCLV member Marge Rea at her home which will be decorated for the holidays.

Please contact me to get the address and directions.

We hope to see you there!