Naming Las Vegas: Claude I. Howard’s influence stretches across state

For someone to whom few paid attention, Claude I. Howard made a major impact on Las Vegas.

The late multimillionaire was a quiet, unassuming man. He was not above getting on his hands and knees to clean at the spa businesses he owned. He wore clothing that appeared to be from discount stores and shunned the press.

Howard gave an estimated $20 million to institutions — colleges, hospitals, police departments and area charities. As Howard sometimes gave donations anonymously, his true impact will likely never be known.

“As long as I make money, I’ll give it away,” Howard said in 1986, during a brief public statement.

One local facility named for him is the Claude I. Howard Heliport, on the fringe of MaCarran International Airport and accessible off Las Vegas Boulevard. His name also appears on a building at UNLV Police Services and Parking & Transportation Services. Built in 1988, the 3,500-square-foot facility houses a 24-hour communications center, which fields all emergency responses on the campus, according to UNLV’s website.

The University of Nevada, Reno also benefited from his largess. The Claude I. Howard Speech and Hearing Clinic is part of the Nell J. Redfield building on the upper portion of its campus. A man of few words, Howard called it a “sound investment” at the time.

On Feb. 11, the College of Southern Nevada plans to formally unveil renovations to the Claude I. Howard Health Sciences Center, the oldest building on its Charleston Boulevard campus, which opened in 1988 as the college expanded from its roots on Cheyenne Avenue, according to CSN’s website.

In addition to renovating 26,000 square feet of the building (roughly half the existing space), nearly 5,000 square feet was added. That new space will house ophthalmic dispensing, radiation therapy and physical therapy. The building is used primarily for programs in the Ralph & Betty Engelstad School of Health Sciences.

The $10 million project included modern new equipment for the physical therapy, radiation therapy and ophthalmic assistant programs, as well as some smaller renovations to the veterinary tech area in an adjacent building.

“These new classrooms and labs will enhance the learning experience for our students at CSN,” said Michael Richards, CSN president. “We’re excited to show them off to the public.”

According to a 1998 Las Vegas Sun article, Howard was born Oct. 28, 1905, in Bakersfield, Calif. He grew up in an orphanage in Kern County. By 15, he was on his own. Entry-level jobs followed: work in a butcher shop, a hospital kitchen, at an accounting firm and a fix-it shop. World War II saw him working as a civilian ship builder in San Francisco.

But bigger things were in store for him after he got his real estate license in California. Howard began buying old buildings, renovating and selling them, an early version of today’s flipper. He came to Las Vegas in 1953 and began building apartments across the valley, according to the article.

He opened the Camelot Health Spa, 5090 S. Maryland Parkway, a trendy spot at the time with clothing-optional pool areas. It was there that the white mustachioed man was seen scrubbing out the drains. He owned several Camelot locations in Las Vegas during the 1970s and ’80s, the Sun said.

“Claude’s life was the portrait of the American success story,” said Bob Beers, city councilman. “He … made a ton of money but kept working and turned it into tons of money. Then, when he was an old man, he donated much of it to the community, and only took credit when some civic group forced it on him.”

The philanthropist died in July 1998. He was 92.

Contact Summerlin Area View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 702-387-2949.