We've got the history of the Hacienda for you right here:
http://classiclasvegas.squarespace.com/a-brief-history-of-the-strip/?currentPage=27
More Dunes Hotel History! Casino de Paris! Rouvan!
More Dunes History here:
http://classiclasvegas.squarespace.com/a-brief-history-of-the-strip/?currentPage=26
We've added the 1960s history of the Dunes to our Brief History of the Las Vegas Strip.
You can find it here:
http://classiclasvegas.squarespace.com/a-brief-history-of-the-strip/?currentPage=25
And some interesting history on the Fremont Hotel:
http://classiclasvegas.squarespace.com/historic-site-of-the-week/
The El Morocco is gone! Peppermill Threatened!
The wonderful little El Morocco on the Las Vegas Strip was torn down this afternoon. Located next to the La Concha and the Peppermill Restaurant, the El Morocco opened in 1964. It was originally a Motel. The Bank of Las Vegas had a branch in the main building and the lobby was located there as well. The architecture with its scalloped windows fit right in with the nearby La Concha. It was briefly called Ash Resnick's El Morocco. Jack Dennison opened his very popular eatery, Jack Dennison's Copper Cart restaurantt that was known for its steaks and prime rib dinners. The Copper Cart later became the Carving Cart after Dennison had moved on.
A casino replaced the Bank of Las Vegas in the 1970s. In addition to the casino there was a coffee shop, cocktail lounge and a full service beauty salon
The motel stayed in operation through the 1990s. The casino portion of the main building became a gift shop in 1983. The motel lobby became the popular Gingseng Korean B-B-Que Restaurant in the 1990s.
By 2000, that restaurant had closed and the entire building became a souvenir store and internet cafe. Part of the motel wing was demolished in October, 2006.
The rest of the motel wing and the main building were slated for demolition and that process began on Friday.
The loss of the El Morocco is sad. The Strip continues to be overtaken by large faux Tuscan and Mediterranean architecture that is devoid of character. The El Morocco was a hold-over from the days when the Las Vegas Strip celebrated roadside architecture and signage. It would have been a wonderful addition to the Neon Museum and joined the La Concha there. But, sadly, it was not to be.
The Peppermill which also was near the El Morocco is threatened as well. Though it is a popular eatery, the truth is that the land that Peppermill sits on is very valuable and that could doom the famed eatery and Fireside Lounge to the wrecking ball.
We will keep you posted!
The El Morocco at night.
Pieces of history
Jack Dennison's Copper Cart and the El Morroco
Special Thanks to RoadsidePictures for letting us use these images.
Huntridge Tops the List of Immediately Endangered Buildings
Well, there's been lots of talk all day in back circles about the big news:
The venerable Huntridge Theater, one of the movie theaters of not only my youth but all of us of a certain age, is in very real danger.
Emails are flying back and forth between preservation groups and everyone is waiting to see what the Las Vegas Sun reports in the morning.
Word on the street is that the owner of the Huntridge, Eli Mizrachi is going to approach the State Cultural Affairs Commission in March. Seems that Mizrachi wants to pay back the money he got from the State for restoration of the Huntridge years ago. In return, he is hoping to get permission TO TEAR DOWN the Huntridge.
On Friday the Cultural Affairs Commission discussed allowing current Huntridge owner Eli Mizrachi repay the state $1.5 million in grant money that was designated to renovate and restore the Huntridge into a top-notch performing venue. Mizrachi wants to cut the strings attached to the money. Right now he can't demolish the building or even alter it without prior approval from the State Historic Preservation Officer. And, its use has to be as a performing arts space.
But if he gets permission from the Cultural Affairs Commission and Ron James, the State Historic Preservation Officer, to repay the money, then the road will be clear for Mizrachi to approach the City of Las Vegas Planning Commission about razing the building and building something new there.
This will be a lightning rod issue for all the preservation groups. The historic theater designed by renowned theater architect S. Charles Lee and originally owned, in part, by Loretta Young and Irene Dunne has been a part of the Las Vegas landscape since the 1940s.
Frank Sinatra premiered his movie "Suddenly" there selling tickets from the box office to the adoring crowds. It was the home of Disney animated features when I was younger. It has been a theater, a night club and a performing arts venue. There are people in town who very much want to see it returned to its former glory as a performing arts venue that provides not only for the community at large but for the near-by historic neighborhoods as well.
This one will likely create a firestorm of opinions.
So stay tuned. We will update this story in the morning as soon as we have more information.
In the meantime, here's two previous articles on the history of the Huntridge:
Special Thanks to RoadsidePictures for allowing us to use this image.
Also blogging about this issue is the crew from VeryVintageVegas.com