Thursday, April 17, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Cover story: This old town

Las Vegas' reputation for discarding its past is put to the test

By Geoff Schumacher/Photos by F. Andrew Taylor

Las Vegas is a place that looks forward more than it looks backward. It's a place that tends to ignore people's baggage. Years ago, mob-connected men who escaped the law in other states such as Moe Dalitz and Benny Binion ended up rising to positions of civic honor here. The city has twice elected as its mayor a lawyer who defended some of the most notorious mobsters in history (and still consorts with some of them). Oscar Goodman's past wasn't particularly important to Las Vegas voters, who are more interested in what he can do for the city now.

This forward-looking perspective often means the community's history gets short shrift. Newcomers generally aren't looking for a place that is rich in history. They got their fill of that back home, where there's a bronze plaque attached to everything that doesn't move. Las Vegas is a place for new opportunities, unencumbered by the roadblocks and complexities of history. As a result, Las Vegas' history often gets bulldozed. Paths must be cleared to the future. Progress trumps heritage.

But Las Vegas is evolving. While it's still growing like a weed, the community's stock of natives and longtime residents is expanding. These are people who are more likely to look backward once in a while and to appreciate the value of preserving some of the city's history. The preservation-minded remain in the minority in Las Vegas where, it often seems, nothing is sacred. But they have enjoyed a handful of successes in recent years that suggest a rising public awareness that saving at least a few pieces of the city's history is important.

Don't let the barstool pundits mislead you. Las Vegas does have a history, and it extends far beyond Warren Beatty's narrow conception of Bugsy Siegel as founder and inventor of Las Vegas. And what's more, evidence of that history can be found all over the valley. Some of it is obvious and marked so you can't miss it. The Mormon Fort, the oldest building in Nevada, is one of these. It's a state park now, a museum honoring the valley's first white settlers.

But other relics of Las Vegas' early history are not so easy to notice, because they remain woven into the texture of everyday life. The railroad cottages, small homes built by the Union Pacific Railroad more than 90 years ago to house their workers, are an example of this. Only a dozen of the original 64 houses are still standing downtown, a scattered testament to the railroad's importance in the town's founding and growth.

Unlike the Mormon Fort, however, the railroad cottages are at risk of being lost. Over the years, 51 of the cottages have been torn down to make way for law offices, parking lots and other entrepreneurial ventures. While one of them recently was picked up and transported to a museum for safekeeping (more on that later), the odds are long that the dozen left on their original lots will survive much longer.

"There's basically no hope that one will be saved down there," says Joe Thompson, a UNLV graduate student who has done the most extensive study of the railroad cottages. "When the price of the land gets high enough, they'll be sold."

While the railroad cottages, along with some other historic landmarks, remain at risk, Las Vegas preservationists have several reasons to celebrate their hard work. David Millman, curator of collections for the Nevada State Museum and Historical Society, says 10 or 15 years ago "it looked like everything was going to be lost." Today he's more optimistic: "It's not as bleak as it once appeared to be." Here are some reasons why.

John S. Park Historic District

The John S. Park Historic District, in the southeast quadrant of Charleston and Las Vegas boulevards, is not the oldest still-standing neighborhood in Las Vegas. That distinction goes to the old Las Vegas High School neighborhood, north of Charleston and east of Las Vegas Boulevard.

But at least by Las Vegas standards, John S. Park is plenty old. The historic district actually encompasses two subdivisions, the Park Place Addition, which began development in 1931 (coinciding with demand for housing associated with Hoover Dam construction), and the Vega Verde Addition, which started in 1941 (coinciding with demand for housing associated with the establishment of Nellis Air Force Base).

The district consists of 160 houses, 34 of which have been deemed "non-contributing"--they've been altered to such an extent that they no longer have historic value.

Most of the district was built by Franklin and Law Developers, which sold the lots and offered buyers four home styles to choose from. The oldest homes reflect the popular Tudor and Colonial Revival styles of the era, while the later homes have a Ranch-style look. While some of the houses have been modified to add rooms, patios and chimneys, usually at the rear of the house, the neighborhood generally has retained its original look. Narrow, curving streets, unaltered over the years, are lined with tall trees, adding to the historic ambience.

The neighborhood, while not the city's oldest, was the first in Las Vegas to adopt the "suburban ideal" as envisioned by English "Garden City" planners during the 19th century. It was the first local neighborhood in which it was assumed that breadwinners would drive to work rather than walk.

The historic district is named for well-known banker and civic leader John S. Park. In 1905, Park was employed by the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad in the sale of the first lots in the original Las Vegas townsite around Fremont and Main streets. The Park Place Addition and Vega Verde subdivisions were built on land that Park had purchased, with his son, William, in 1925. The Park family built a large home on the property that is no longer standing.

The neighborhood, once considered to be in a remote area, historically was associated with upper-middle-class professionals, business leaders and politicians. A list of famous residents is a who's who of Las Vegas history: Artemus Ham, an attorney for whom the performing arts auditorium at UNLV is named; Harley Harmon, a district attorney; J. Kell Houssels, a longtime casino owner; Ryland Taylor, a district judge and chairman of the Clark County Republican Party; Frank Gusewelle, a county commissioner; Bryan Bunker, a co-owner of Bunker Brothers Mortuary; Ray Germain, a state assemblyman and casino executive; Frank Garside, editor and publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal; Archie C. Grant, a politician and civic leader.

Today, the John S. Park neighborhood has become a popular option for young professionals seeking an alternative to the monotony and long commutes of suburban living. Along with the MacNeil Estates neighborhood a few miles to the west, it is attracting home buyers who are interesting in contributing to the revitalization of downtown Las Vegas.

Mary Hausch, a UNLV communications professor and 15-year resident of John S. Park, says the makeup of the neighborhood is changing. "It was mostly Mormon widows when we moved in," she says. "Now we have two couples on our street where the wives are pregnant. We have university professors, attorneys, other people who recognize what a gem the neighborhood is."

The homeowners created the John S. Park Neighborhood Association several years ago and, with the city's help, drafted a formal neighborhood plan. Out of this process developed a desire to characterize the neighborhood as a historic district. The Las Vegas City Council voted to establish the historic district this spring, a designation that aims to encourage property owners to maintain the historical integrity of the houses.

"There's a definite renaissance going on," Hausch says. "We were teetering on a balance where we could have gone either way. Now the values are definitely going up. There's an energy level here that we didn't have. There's a pride of place that's very important."

Hausch says she anticipates a project in which plaques will be placed on houses saying when they were built and who lived there. She's also excited about bringing together old residents and new. "We want to get together with people who used to live in the homes and help appreciate their heritage," she says.

John S. Park is the city's first historic district. The old Las Vegas High School neighborhood was considered for historic designation a few years before, but the project was abandoned when a large number of property owners objected, on grounds that they wanted the option to develop their land for commercial uses. Unlike John S. Park, much of the Las Vegas High neighborhood already has a commercial flavor.

But Hausch, for one, believes the designation of John S. Park as a historic district sets a precedent that other neighborhoods will want to emulate. "There are a number of neighborhoods in Las Vegas that are over 50 years old," she says. "And it will be easier the second time. People will be wanting to do this."

Moulin Rouge hotel-casino

The Moulin Rouge, opened in 1955, was Las Vegas' first multiracial resort--and, incidentally, first neighborhood casino. At that time, Las Vegas was a segregated city. Most blacks lived on the Westside, a downtrodden area west of Interstate 15 and north of Bonanza Road. Black entertainers were hired to perform in Strip resorts but they weren't allowed to stay after the show was over. Typically, they would go to the Westside (now West Las Vegas) to stay in a rooming house and to partake of the lively late-night scene.

The Moulin Rouge was the first step in breaking down those barriers. It welcomed everybody--and provided nicer accommodations for African-American performers. Its opening made the cover of Life magazine. It attracted some of the world's great black entertainers to perform in its showroom--the Platters performed on opening night--and it was not uncommon for white celebrities such as Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin to frequent the casino after hours. Heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis was one of the casino hosts.

Unfortunately for the integration effort and for Las Vegas generally, the Moulin Rouge was a shortlived venture. For reasons that remain something of a mystery to this day, the resort closed after about six months and fell into bankruptcy. Despite repeated efforts over the past four decades, it never returned to its brief glory.

Fortunately for preservationists, key elements of the original Moulin Rouge are still intact. The casino's expansive bar remains in place, as well as the colorful, French-flavored mural behind it. The showroom is still there, complete with its large stage, and the extravagant cursive sign facing Bonanza Road is a weathered reminder of its bygone glamour.

Today, the Moulin Rouge is owned by Canadian businessman Bart Maybie, who for several years has vowed to fix up the hotel-casino and reopen it. He's brought in revenue in recent years by renting out the hotel rooms, as well as adjacent apartments and condos. A variety of proposals to reopen the Moulin Rouge have been publicized, none of which has come to fruition. But, at long last, that series of false starts appears to be over.

Dale Scott, chief executive officer of the Moulin Rouge Development Corp., is embarking on a joint venture with Maybie that would invest $100 million over five years to completely revamp the resort while preserving its historic elements.

"Our goal is to make the entire casino a living museum," Scott says.

Scott, a retired Air Force man who is involved with a gaming equipment company in California, says he started researching the Moulin Rouge about 2 1/2 years ago after seeing a televised documentary about it. After concluding that revitalizing the resort was a viable project, he approached Maybie with his proposal and it was accepted.

Scott retained JMA Architects, and the local firm came up with a three-phase plan that, when completed, will make the resort the biggest project West Las Vegas has ever seen.

Phase one would put up a temporary structure on the east end of the property to house a small casino and museum. The intent is to build a revenue stream and "show people that something is happening here," Scott says. He hopes to have the temporary structure up and running by New Year's Eve.

Phase two would build a permanent hotel-casino and parking structure, incorporating as much of the historic buildings as possible. A large museum is part of the plan, as well as an enlarged showroom (from 350 to 450 seats). Phase three would move the temporary structure and convert it into a permanent events center.

Scott says he is working with state and city historic preservation officials on a plan to save the resort's important historic elements. "As much of the old stuff that we can keep, we will," he says.

While Scott and his partners, Rod Bickerstaff and Chauncey Moore, have kept a low profile so far--this article represents the first public announcement of the details of their plans--he says contacts with community leaders have been positive. "Mostly we're hearing, `Do what you say you are going to do,'" he says.

The museum aspect of the project is the purview of Katherine Duncan, who sits on the board of the Moulin Rouge Museum and Cultural Center. "We don't own the property," Duncan says. "Our role is to encourage the owner to preserve the history of it."

Duncan envisions a museum celebrating African-American history that also serves as a cultural center. "We feel that if our children had more opportunities to be involved in the performing arts, they'd have a chance to be more involved in the economics of Las Vegas," she says.

While Scott admits that reviving the Moulin Rouge is a major undertaking, he is confident it will succeed. "The great thing," Scott says, "is that everyone wants to see this happen. Everyone wants to be part of the revitalization."

Railroad cottages

The siting of the Clark County Regional Justice Center downtown a couple of years ago created a panic for local preservationists because of its potential impact on the railroad cottages. The justice center's location south of the county jail would create a demand among lawyers and other law-related companies for nearby properties. A project was initiated to obtain one of the remaining cottages and transport it to the Clark County Museum in Henderson, where a variety of other historic buildings have been moved.

The museum got lucky with a cottage at 521 S. Third St. The four-room concrete-block house had not been altered significantly over the years, in large part because it had been rented for decades by one family.

"We were told that a Hispanic family had lived in it for over 50 years," says Mark Ryzdynski, director of the Clark County Museum. "It was extraordinary for this town. Very little of the outside had been modified. They kept the original bathroom and kitchen structures."

The house was owned by the Cram family, which includes former Clark County School District Superintendent Brian Cram. The family agreed to give the house to the museum. The museum obtained a grant from the state Historic Preservation Office to hire a mover.

The move about a year ago was a harrowing experience, Ryzdynski says. The railroad cottages are made of sturdy concrete, but 1910 construction standards did not call for rebar reinforcements. As a result, transporting the structure was a delicate process that could have ended in a disastrous pile of bricks.

"The house never got over two or three miles per hour," Ryzdynski says. "It took a good 12 hours to go from downtown to Henderson, under heavy police escort. A kid on a skateboard could have done laps around it while it was moving. It was an epic unparalleled by any other move out here."

The house is now at the museum, and work is under way to get it ready for public viewing, probably in about two years. Stabilizing the exterior, expected to start soon and take a couple of months, will be followed by work on the interior to restore the home to its original 1911 appearance. "We want to set it up as a railroad employee would have had it," Ryzdynski says.

Ryzdynski is pleased with the preservation of the railroad cottage, but he fears such a project will not be repeated. "We saved the one that was the best of breed," he says. "But knowing the costs associated with this not large but difficult-to-relocate structure, I doubt anyone is going to try this again."

As a result, the 12 remaining railroad cottages downtown could be lost. One real estate broker owns about half of them and hopes to sell the properties all together for a large commercial project. Other cottages are being used as businesses, such as the Las Vegas Tribune newspaper office at 608 S. Third St. The cottage at 604 S. Fourth St., consisting of about 800 square feet, is divided into apartments.

The land on which the houses sit is extremely valuable--$350,000 to $400,000 per lot, according to historian Joe Thompson. "There's been a jump over the last few years because of the regional justice center moving in," he says.

Thompson believes the restoration of a railroad cottage at the county museum is a worthwhile endeavor but simply not as good as keeping one on its original lot. "At a museum it becomes an artifact, an art object," he says. "The fact that it's been moved from its original place removes half its history."

And the railroad cottages' place in history is significant, Thompson says. "Without development of the railroad, none of the rest of this place would have come forth," he says.

The railroad built the cottages to house its upper-level workers. "This was a huge step for Las Vegas to bring in people from other areas," Thompson says. "It was one of the first housing tracts anywhere. When these were built, there were still people in Las Vegas living in tents."

The lingering hope is one of the downtown cottages will be preserved as a law office or artist studio or some other small business that would appreciate the building's historical flavor. "If for some reason one of them gets isolated and nothing happens with adjoining properties, it could last for a few years," Thompson says.

Morelli house

The Junior League of Las Vegas is in the process of preserving a house that is not as old as many others in the valley, but has historic value nonetheless. The house was built on the Desert Inn Golf Course in 1959 by Antonio Morelli, who was the music director at the Sands Hotel in the 1950s and '60s (the Rat Pack era). The 3,300-square-foot house is revered as a rare example of modernist architecture in Las Vegas at the time. While most Las Vegans in the 1950s built houses in the Ranch or Mission style, Morelli went a different direction. The large front room has 15-foot ceilings with huge windows and skylights. It has inlaid paneling imported from Malaysia.

Those who have toured the house say it reminds them of what people in the '50s thought the future would look like. It has all kinds of time-saving gadgets (electric drapes, for instance) and space-age flourishes. The '50s-era copper-tone appliances are still there and in working condition.

Morelli sold the house in 1977 to Kay Glenn, who was a key member of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes' operations for 25 years. Glenn lived in the house until 2001, when he sold the property to Steve Wynn, who was buying up all the D.I. golf course houses to make way for his Le Reve resort. Glenn didn't want the distinctive house demolished, so he contacted the Junior League to see if it could be moved.

The Junior League originally planned to save the Whitehead Mansion, a house built in 1929, by moving it to a vacant lot at Ninth Street and Bridger Avenue, but vagrants burned the house down. So, when Glenn alerted the league to the Morelli house, it jumped at the opportunity, says Louise Helton, the league's president.

The Morelli house was moved almost two years ago, and it was supposed to be up and running by now. But after the house was moved, it was discovered that the lot had expansive soil, meaning more funds had to be raised to stabilize the site. "We took a huge $65,000 hit to prepare the ground," Helton says. "It has taken us quite a bit to recover from it."

Undaunted, the Junior League went to work raising more money for the project, and it plans to resume the construction project in the next few weeks. "Within the next six to eight weeks we should have something that the community can be proud of," Helton says.

Once completed, the Morelli house will become the new headquarters for the Junior League, and it will be used for cultural programs. Since it is across the street from the Las Vegas Academy performing arts high school, it could be used for student art exhibits and recitals.

Best of the rest

Some historic structures in Las Vegas appear to be in good hands. The old Las Vegas High School, built in 1929 at Seventh Street and Bridger Avenue, remains in use as the Las Vegas Academy. The old federal post office and courthouse, built in 1933 at 301 E. Stewart Ave., was obtained last year by the city, which has pledged to use it as a museum or cultural center. The Fifth Street School is owned by the city, which plans to preserve it and use it for cultural activities. The Golden Gate hotel-casino on Fremont Street, whose origins date to 1906, still contains some of the original structure, a fact the owner relishes as a marketing tool. The El Cortez, built in the 1940s with many features untouched, remains a busy and fully functioning hotel-casino on East Fremont. The owner of the Huntridge Theater at Maryland Parkway and East Charleston Boulevard has kept its towering sign and marquee in place and has upgraded the property for concerts and other events. The Green House, once owned by reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes and where he lived in 1953-54, is in the hands of KLAS Channel 8 and its news director, Bob Stoldal, who is chairman of the city Historic Preservation Commission.

For several other historic structures, however, the future is less certain:

¥ The Binion house on Bonanza Road--former home of the longtime casino family--was up for sale recently, although the realty sign has since come down. The house, built in 1940 and owned by the Binions since 1947, has been vacant since the early 1970s, but horses are still kept on the five-acre property. Calls to Becky Behnen, daughter of the late Benny Binion, were not returned.

¥ The Green Shack restaurant at 2504 E. Fremont St. remains standing. The building has not been an operating restaurant for more than three years, and the former owners, Jim and Barbara McCormick, could not be located to comment on its prospects. The Green Shack opened in 1932 when Mettie "Jimmie" Jones bought a green building from the railroad and moved it to Fremont Street. Her first customers were Hoover Dam workers who gobbled down the house specialty: fried chicken and mashed potatoes. The tables in the Green Shack were once used in the Hoover Dam cafeteria. Later, the Green Shack was a popular gathering place for the city's movers and shakers.

¥ The Victory Hotel at 307 S. Main St. is one of the most amazing pieces of history in downtown Las Vegas, yet hardly anybody knows about it. The hotel opened in 1910 as the Lincoln, and it has been in operation ever since. The small two-story building retains its original Old West-style faãade and what appear to be some of its original interior features, such as the iron railing on the stairs, wooden raised-panel doors on the small rooms and textured white plaster on the walls. The upstairs porch consists of unfinished wood planks. A peek inside one of the upstairs rooms reveals it to be extremely small and still containing some very old fixtures.

A photograph of Main Street in 1911, taken from the roof of the old ice plant, shows the Lincoln looking almost exactly as it does today. It has gone through numerous owners, the latest of whom is Sue Hassan, who also operates the Panorama Market next door. Hassan bought the two businesses together about three years ago. She says she had to buy the hotel in order to get the market. Rooms at the Victory go for $21.95 daily and $109.95 per week.

It is not clear what fate awaits the Victory. Hassan seems satisfied operating it as a daily-weekly hotel, but her primary interest is the adjacent market. Her response to the hotel's age is largely a shrug of frustration, because the building requires a lot of maintenance. The hotel, while very old, does not appear to have major historical significance. No presidents slept there, it seems, nor did any important political deals get made in its midst. It was simply a convenient place for people to sleep after they completed a long train ride to Las Vegas.