The Friends of Classic Las Vegas will be having their monthly

General Meeting this

Sunday, Feb. 8th.

2:00 pm at the Nevada State Museum

Auditorium

700 Twin Lakes Drive

Lorenzi Park

We hope to see you there as we are beginning to plan our Spring Activities.

Refreshments will be served!

Our pal Jeff Burbank is reporting over at the DowntownNews  that the City of Las Vegas has asked that the Moulin Rouge being demolished because it is "a dangerous building."  Seems the city has determined that the building is a threat to public safety and "wants the dilapidated, 53-year-old property demolished, including the former casino facade and adjacent two-story motel.

Meanwhile, the owner of the property, Moulin Rouge Properties, LLC, has filed an appeal to the city’s demolition order."

A hearing scheduled for yesterday on the matter was delayed and the matter will be discussed at the March 4th City Council hearing.

According to the article:

The city’s Neighborhood Services Department, on Dec. 8, sent an official notice and order to the property owner, listing dozens of reasons why the old Moulin Rouge casino building at 840 W. Bonanza Road and the motel at 920 W. Bonanza both qualified as dangerous buildings, including deterioration, the possibility of collapse, serving as a harbor for vagrants and criminals, a severe pest infestation, faulty plumbing and heating and a threat to local property values.

Devon S. Smith, manager of the department’s neighborhood response division, said in the letter that Moulin Rouge had 10 days to file an appeal.

In response, Moulin Rouge chief executive Dale L. Scott wrote on Dec. 12 that the company would appeal the notice and order, because it had already contracted with two firms, Phoenix Contractors and the Westmark Group, to demolish the buildings and remove “all associated materials on the parcel in question.”

“As these building are vacant, and all utilities have been disconnected, Moulin Rouge Properties, LLC and its contractors will not have to face delays in order to begin the demolition process,” Scott stated.

The Moulin Rouge, which opened as Las Vegas first integrated casino in 1955 and closed less than a year but operated of and on as a nightclub and motel.

The main casino building, with its classic script neon (but non-working) marquee sign, suffered a damaging fire in 2003. Since then, the motel part has served as a home for squatters, who have lived inside some of its many open hotel rooms.

For years since the fire, debris has covered the area behind the old casino’s façade, which is propped up by a series steel rods along Bonanza Road.

A year ago, Scott announced plans to develop the site with 700 hotel rooms, a 44,000 square-foot casino, retail stores, four restaurants and a museum. He also said that he would preserve the casino’s famous façade and merge it into the project. However, construction never got started.

No word on what would happen to the beautiful neon-script signage that still adorns the front of the building.  It was designed by Betty Willis.  Hopefully it will go to the Neon Museum instead of being destroyed.  Though the cost of moving the giant sign will likely be in the thousands of dollars and does the Museum have space for the large sign?

On Thursday, February 5th we have a very unique panel centered around the history of the railroad in Las Vegas.

As many of our readers know, the railroad put Las Vegas on the proverbial map. It's importance in those early, beginning days of Las Vegas cannot be understated. The railroad provided many of the jobs for the small community and also provided cottages for its workers to live in.

Over the years, the railroad cottages were home not only to those connected with the company but as the community grew and the railroad grew less important, many of the cottages were turned into businesses.

Finally, many fell into disrepair and most were demolished to make room for bigger and better offices.

But for an evening we are going to look back on this buildings that were home to many of our pioneering residents. We will talk about their historic importance, the battle to save them and the story of their ultimate preservation. We will also talk about the importance of the railroad in sustaining the small community in those formative years.

Join us and our panelists to learn more about our early history and the story behind the Cottages.

Donna Andress

Eileen Fitzgerald Carson

Gail Andress

Brian "Paco" Alvarez

Thursday, Feb. 5th

7:00 pm

Las Vegas Springs Preserve

Desert Learning Center

Admission is $12