E-476: Personal Notes

 Random Vegas

In 2003, Las Vegas tried to buy a commercial slot during the Super Bowl to promote tourism to the city.  The NFL stepped in, citing a contract that allowed it to reject any ad related to sports betting, even though the spot didn’t include any overt references to gambling (Forbes)

Twitpic of the week

It’s amazing to think that today, this is all Circa.  The Las Vegas Club, Golden Goose, Glitter Gulch and Sassy Sally, shared by @_GrandPaD, gone.  Granted Sassy Sally was Mermaid’s at the time of her demise but that’s beside the point.  The point is look how much things change in Vegas, all the time.  On a side note, this is the best picture I’ve seen showing that Vegas Vickie and Sassy Sally are not the same thing.  The typical POV shot of Sally’s and this area makes it almost look like Vickie is sitting on top of the Sassy Sally sign, hence the misconception that Vickie used to be Sally.

News

• Super Bowl Success
• Tropicana Stadium
• F1 2024 Improvements

E-475: Boo Cancer

 Random Vegas

Built in 1982, the 2-story building that was the Oasis Casino @Dunes was supposed to be comprised of two components, a casino on the 1st floor and a restaurant on the 2nd floor.  The restaurant never opened and the space remained unused until its destruction in 1993 (vintagelasvegas.com)

Twitpic of the week

Here is another @summacorp picture that mesmerizes me with all the history going on.  For example, we know that this is 1968 because they are working on the fountains in front of the new Circus Circus casino. You’ll notice that fountain 5 is being deconstructed.  That’s because they are moving the carousel marquee from the left of the fountains to that location on the right; all so they can make room to build Slots-A-Fun. Next door to that is Westward Ho still 3 years away from adding a casino in 1971.  And next to that is the mammoth Stardust 1,000 motel units all lined up neatly like an OCD dream come true.  If you look to the top left you’ll see both the Stardust casino and the 12-story expansion tower from 1964.  And across the street from it all we have the Riviera with her classic marquee. It’s truly remarkable to think about how much land they needed back in the 50s through to the 70s and even 80s in some cases.  Its no wonder why they all sold for the right price.

News

• Sphere Demonstration
• 360VV14
• Strip Frontage Advertising
• Caesars, Strat and Luxor

E-474: Overbuilt

 Random Vegas

After a 4 month remodeling and a rebranding, in 1963, Lucky Casino, formerly known as Lucky strike, reopened with the largest sign in the city of Las Vegas at 160 feet tall.  It held that titled until it was surpassed in 1964 by the Dunes turret marquee towering 180 feet tall.  Lucky Casino is now the middle part of Golden Nugget Fremont St frontage.

Twitpic of the week

So much development goodness in this picture it’s not hard to see why @summacorp shared it.  Set in what looks like 1993 based on the various projects in various states of progress.  Front and center, we see the massive MGM Grand theme park and Grand Garden Arena under construction.  Beyond that we can see Luxor is also still under construction.  Noticeably missing from the landscape is NYNY and Mandalay Bay.  Here we still see Hacienda occupying the space Mandalay Bay would one day call home.

News

• Tropicana Closing
• Fontainebleau Problems
• Flamingo Restoration
• Fontainebleau Signage