Just back from the awesome panel on the MGM Grand Fire and wanted to say "THANK YOU!" to all who turned out for the Las Vegas City Council meeting yesterday.  Friends of Classic Las Vegas members Mary Martinez and Mary Gafford spoke up as did former County Commissioner and UNLV Regent Thalia Dondero.

Pam Hartley of Very Vintage Vegas and FCLV spoke as did Steve Evans who spearheaded this entire effort.

Our good friend Jack LeVine of Very Vintage Vegas reports:

The Las Vegas City Council stepped up and told the developers of the property that includes the “Pop Squires” home that their requests for variances and zoning changes wouldn’t be heard until they dealt with the issue of saving the home!

The current owners not only agreed to donate the home, but to also pay for moving it to another location. This is a great win for the historic preservation movement of Las Vegas. Of course, there’s a big “But” in that now we’re confronted with finding a new home for it.

Pam Hartley and planning commissionerSteve Evans, who first brought the issue to our attention are already on it and are contacting the Clark County Museum and other non profit organizations. We’d love to see a group step up and adaptively re-use the home in the same way that the Morelli House has become the headquarters of the Junior League, however, a museum setting is perfectly fine with us.

We had a few unexpected speakers at the City Council hearing. Former County Commissioner Thalia Dondero spoke eloquently about sitting on the porch of the home as a child talking to Mom Squires, and the importance of having the squires remembered as the Father of Las Vegas. Others spoke about the inappropriateness of a 5 story McOffice being built across the street from the original Las Vegas High School, which is a the cornerstone of the Las Vegas High School Historic District. Thank you, also, to those of you who took action and called and wrote to Mayor Goodman and Councilman Reese.

Don't forget, the Las Vegas City Council meets tomorrow to decide the fate of "Pop" Squires house.

Here's the latest information:

Wednesday, November 5 - Approximately 1:00 p.m. - City Council Hearing - 400 Stewart Avenue - First Floor Plaza This is the hearing regarding the "Pop Squires Home", located at 408 7th Street (on the corner of 7th Street and Andre Rochat Avenue), which the owners want to demolish, to make way for yet another "generic" office building.

Probably you already know who C. P."Pop" Squires was, but if not, he and his wife Delphine are a very significant part of Las Vegas history. His first home was on Fremont Street, which at one time had many residential homes, with grassy front yards and trees. It was demolished, when Fremont Street expanded.

Let's not let his second homehave the same dismal ending. We'd like as many people as possible to show up at the City Council hearing (which is Item #124, incidentally, and could be heard anytime from 1:00 p.m. on), and show support for saving the house.

For more information on the Squires and how you can help:

http://classiclasvegas.squarespace.com/classic-las-vegas-blog/2008/10/22/help-save-las-vegas-history.html

Join us on Thursday, November 6th for:

"Untold Stories: A Look Back at the MGM Grand Fire"

When the original MGM Grand Hotel opened in 1973, it was the most lavish hotel on the Las Vegas Strip.  Every facet of the hotel oozed with class from its casino that was the size of three football fields, to its MGM themed high-end gourmet restaurants such as Gigi's, Barrymores and Tracey's.  Chandliers were everywhere.  The shopping area, located downstairs from the main casino floor, was filled with high-end stores and at the end, a movie theater that played classic studio era MGM films.  It was a hotel to remember.

But in 1980, an early morning fire changed forever the way we remember that beautiful hotel. 

It was the deadlist hotel fire in Nevada history and the second deadlist in American history. We will look back at the events that caused the fire, the heroism and cooperation that helped saved thousands of lives and the legacy of the fire.

Panelists include:

Las Vegas Sun reporter, Mary Manning

KLAS-Channel 8 anchor, Gary Waddell

MGM employee Jose Alvarez

MGM baker, Don Feldman

and  Clark County Fire Chief, Steve Smith, who as a rookie was one of the first to respond to the fire.

This should be a tremendous evening of history and stories so please join us at:

The Las Vegas Springs Preserve

Desert Learning Center

7:00 pm

Admission is $12

You've seen the back of the house as you pass by on Sandhill in the Paradise Crest neighborhood.  The Space Capsule that peeps over the fence along with the observatory and more!  Well, to long-time residents it is known as the home of Dr. Lonnie Hammargren.

Our pal Uncle Jack LeVine  calls Dr. Lonnie the Godfather of Preservation in Las Vegas.  Dr. Lonnie has been collecting pieces of Las Vegas and Nevada history for years.  In addition, he has been an avid collector of American history as well as Internationally.  He also collects the arcane and little known artifacts as well.  Over the years, Dr. Lonnie's collection has grown so much that it now fills up two houses and spills out over the yards.

For 364 days a year, a tour of the house is only available by invitation only.  But once a year, on the Sunday following Nevada Day, Dr. Lonnie and his wife, Sandy, open the doors and invite everyone to join them in the celebration.

The Annual Hammargren House of History's Celebration of Nevada Day will be on Sunday, Nov. 2nd from 1:00 - 5:00 pm.  This year, to help cover costs of organizing and putting on this wonderful event, the charge will be $5.

The Friends of Classic Las Vegas will be holding hourly raffles and helping out.  Raffle tickets will be a $1 a ticket or 6 for $5.  Proceeds will go to help the FCLV help save our history.

Volunteers are needed to help direct traffic and such.  If you would like to volunteer and help out, please contact Jack LeVine at www.veryvintagevegas.com

It should be fun afternoon so if you have never been to Dr. Lonnie's but always wanted to go, here's your chance!

We hope to see you there!

 Photo courtesy of Jack LeVine and VeryVintageVegas.com

You get involved in historical preservation because you believe that you can help make a difference, because you believe that our history is more than Bugsy Siegel and the Mob, because you believe that our history matters, because you know that cultural tourism matters and without historic homes there is no cultural tourism.

But most of all you get involved because you know that the continued destruction of our early 20th Century history means that we as Las Vegans hold the real history of our town in such little regard that the continued destruction of it for more McOffices is not only wrong but offensive.

If you believe that our history matters, if you believe that our pioneer families should be celebrated (because without them this metropolis of the 21st Century that we have become would not exist), if you believe that cultural tourism is important  to the fabric of our community then now is the time to stand up.  Think of every town and city you have ever visited and what do they have common?  An old town, a historic district, tours and an understanding of the pioneering roots that made that town matter.

History is what binds us to our community.  The majority of people who now live in Las Vegas have come from out-town, from someplace else.  Home is always going to be where they are from until we give them a reason to invest in our community.  History is what helps them invest in our community.  It shows that while we may be a young town we value the contributions and the sacrifices of the families who carved a community out of a unforgiving desert.

If we, as natives and long-time residents, don't value our history how can we expect new arrivals to do so.

We have a chance as a community to come together and tell the City of Las Vegas that our history matters.

On Nov. 5th, the City of Las Vegas will decide the fate of the Charles "Pop" and Delphine "Mom" Squires home.  Who were the Squires?

Charles "Pop" Squires arrived before the land auction and set about starting a bank and a hotel in anticipation of both being needed by the time the land auction would happen.

After the success of the land auction, he sent for his wife and family to join him.  He started the first newspaper, "The Las Vegas Age".  His wife, Delphine, was a founder of the womens civic organization, The Mesquite Club.  For over 50 years the Squires were an important family in the fabric of Las Vegas.

Their house still stands in the historic district near the original Las Vegas High School.  But developers want to bulldoze it and build what else, a McOffice, on the site and adjoining property.

Now is the time to stand up and say "ENOUGH!' to the continued destruction of our history, our neighborhoods and our community.

Write or call Mayor Oscar Goodman and the members of the Las Vegas City Council:  Gary Reese, Lois Tarkanian, Steve Wolfson, Ricky Barlow, Larry Brown and Steve Ross and tell them that you don't want the Squires home to be torn down.

The City Council meets on November 5th to vote on the matter.

Las Vegas City Council
City Hall, Tenth Floor
400 Stewart Avenue
Las Vegas, NV 89101
Phone: (702) 229-6405
Fax: (702) 382-8558

Business Hours: Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The developers are open to the idea of moving the house but only if someone else will pay for it.  The bottom line is that the house should not be moved nor should it be destroyed.  It should remain in the historic Las Vegas High School neighborhood where it can be appreciated for years to come by residents and tourists alike as part of the history of Las Vegas.