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| Tuesday, August 29, 2000
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal Desert Inn fades to black As a storied hotel ends its 50-year run and locks go on the doors, patrons and workers say farewell. By Jan Hogan and Dave Berns
lasvegas.com Gaming Wire The 50-year-old Desert Inn closed at 2 p.m. Monday to make way for Steve Wynn's mammoth reconfiguration of the 220-acre Strip site.
Oversized locks secured the hotel's doors while security guards waved tourists away.
Teary-eyed employees lingered nearby, sharing goodbyes and snapping photos.
Longtime Las Vegas character Bob Stupak, a one-time owner of the Stratosphere, was among those taking in the scene.
"I was the last one out of the Castaways ... Sands, Dunes and Aladdin and now the Desert Inn," Stupak said, recalling past Strip closures. "I do this for the history. I couldn't be there when they open, so I want to be there when they close."
Wynn purchased the Desert Inn for $270 million in June and soon announced that he was shutting the property once owned by mobster Moe Dalitz and manic billionaire Howard Hughes.
Preliminary plans call for the 715-room resort and its 18-hole golf course to be replaced by two 50-plus story hotel towers tied to a gigantic lake, condominiums and boutique-style office buildings.
No final plans or timetable for redevelopment have been announced.
"On this final day of operations of the Desert Inn, we cannot help but feel nostalgic," Wynn and his wife, Elaine, said in a Monday statement.
"This property made a singular contribution to the history of Las Vegas, and we all benefited from that in some way. To the dedicated employees responsible for this, we wish them Godspeed."
The property's casino closed at 2 a.m., marking the end of its Sunday accounting day.
Longtime Desert Inn guest Fred Heitmann of Milford, Ill., was the last gambler to hold the dice at the property's craps tables. The point was eight; he threw a seven, losing $800.
But the memory of that final roll didn't dim his nostalgia for the hotel he first visited 23 years ago.
"I want to be the last guest to walk out the front door," said Heitmann, a professional investor who carried a $30,000 credit line at the Desert Inn. "I consider this my house, and the employees are part of my family.
"What Steve Wynn is doing to this place is sad."
Although the Desert Inn is now closed to the public, portions of the complex will be open solely for Wynn and his management team so they can finalize plans for the new property.
The pool area is expected to be paved over to become a makeshift parking lot for planners and visitors to the golf club, which is scheduled to remain open as it hosts golf tournaments through September 2001.
"Now the time has come to take advantage of the strategic location of this property to create its next chapter," the Wynns said through their statement. "We believe that no other real estate in the state provides the exciting possibilities that this place does.
"No one's expectations are higher than our own. We are looking forward to the challenge of a new creative venture."
The closure came with no fanfare. People drifted away as security guards took their positions in front of the doors.
As a chain-link fence was erected to keep the unwanted away, a mail carrier made her regularly scheduled delivery. The hotel marquee flashed the ironic greeting, "Open."
And the more talkative spoke:
--"I just wanted to walk through one last time," said an emotional Laura Sims, whose late-mother, Darlene, worked 32 years in the slot department. "The people she worked with were like her second family. I feel there's a part of her in that building."
--"I fell in love here," said Johnnie Hill, of Starkville, Miss., recalling memories with her now-deceased husband. "We'd come back at least six times a year, and we'd always stay in room 525. That was our room."
--"I felt like Cinderella," said Trudy McMahon, a Sun City, Ariz., resident, speaking of past visits. "There were baskets of fruit when we arrived. It didn't matter if we won or lost, we were always treated elegantly."
Meantime, Tony Vescera, an 80-year-old retired showroom waiter who worked 26 years at the Desert Inn, arrived with his 20-year service pin, still in its velvet box.
"I read how other workers sold their things and I was going to sell this for $500," he said. "But then I got here and thought, no, it means too much to part with."
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Last Days of
the Desert Inn
News, history and your memories of the Strip landmark
Vince, a Desert Inn locksmith who declined to give his last name, locks the doors of the 50-year-old hotel-casino Monday afternoon.
Photo by Jeff Scheid.
JoAnn Titus, a 21-year Desert Inn employee, and Stan Laird, a 22-year valet worker, hug Monday in front of the property. "We're like family," Titus said.
Photo by Jeff Scheid.
Bill Withrow, a driver for CLS Transportation, waits Monday for a Desert Inn guest while a worker removes a vending machine.
Photo by Jeff Scheid.
The marquee flashes its nostalgic message as autos and pedestrians pass along the Strip.
Photo by Jeff Scheid.
Kathleen and Charles Gray of Albuquerque, N.M., wait Monday for a cab while casino porter Steve Toka cleans outside the Desert Inn. The Grays, who honeymooned at the hotel 40 years ago, stayed there the final night.
Photo by Jeff Scheid.
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