The Landmark Hotel and Casino
Encyclopedia
The Landmark Tower was a hotel/casino located in Las Vegas
, Nevada
. The Landmark opened on July 1, 1969 and closed on August 8, 1990.
The Landmark played host to famous celebrities such as Danny Thomas
, Elvis Presley
, Frank Sinatra
and Freddy Fender's
first appearance.
With just 525 rooms, the Landmark was small in comparison to the newer Las Vegas megaresort
s.
.
With a $3,000,000 loan from the Appliance Buyers Credit Corporation, Carroll and his group hired John W. Jamieson of Tustin, California
to design the tower and Edward Hendricks of Los Angeles was contracted to oversee its construction. The original plan was to build a 15 story tower, the tallest in Nevada. This was increased to 31 stories when The Mint hotel downtown decided to add more floors to its tower to claim the height record. In the end, the title went to Landmark.
In December 1962, Carroll ran out of funding. His creditors refused to loan him additional money to complete the tower and work halted. The tower sat 80% complete - an empty shell.
In 1966, after four years of dormancy, the Teamsters Union Pension Fund awarded Carroll $5.5 million to complete the Landmark. Work resumed and the tower was completed by early 1967. Landmark announced the opening of its main showroom and lounges on New Year's Eve, 1967 but due to lack of funding it did not open on time.
The Carrolls expected to have the hotel open in April 1968, however a February edition of the Las Vegas Review Journal noted that the hotel had yet to apply for a gaming license.
On January 17, 1969, reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes
purchased the Landmark and agreed to pay off the nearly three dozen creditors and contractors Frank Carroll owed money to. Unlike Hughes' other Las Vegas hotels, Landmark had yet to be opened. This allowed Hughes to make all design decisions from room decor to employee uniforms.
Finally, after eight years in the construction phase, The Landmark Hotel & Casino opened on July 1, 1969 with a celebration of 500 invited guests and Danny Thomas headlining the main showroom.
Many top performers, such as Liberace, George Burns, Pat Cooper, and Phyllis Diller have performed at the hotel. The hype was short lived when it became apparent that Landmark was not bringing in much profit.
Throughout the 1970s, continuing financial troubles and bad publicity plagued Landmark. In 1970 Hughes fled Las Vegas, leaving control of his hotels to his company, Summa Corp. Landmark reported a loss of $5.9 million that year. In 1974, William G. Bennett and William Pennington made an offer to buy the Landmark but every time they came close to a deal, Hughes raised the price. They bought Circus Circus instead. On July 15, 1977, Carbon monoxide gas leaked into the hotel's air conditioning system killing 1 guest and injuring 138 others. This also caused a power failure and was found to be the result of flooding in the sub-basement.
By the late 1970s, The Landmark was in major financial trouble. Summa Corp. began selling off its hotel properties, and the Landmark was at the top of the list. Ed and Zula Wolfram of Grand Rapids, Ohio purchased the Landmark from Summa Corp. They had little success in turning the troubled hotel around. In 1982, Ed Wolfram was convicted of embezzling $47 million from his Toledo brokerage firm, Bell & Beckwith. The Landmark was seized and put up for sale.In 1983, William Morris - a Las Vegas native - purchased the hotel with plans to breathe life back into it. He used "junk bonds" from Wall Street to finance a major renovation. During an extensive exterior renovation, new red stripes were added along the windows running up the tower and the roof was painted red to match. The entrance had red-lit outriggers added and a new side entrance was added to the casino. Although these were nice visual additions, the rooms remained untouched which contributed to the hotel's eventual downfall. The hotel was renamed "The NEW Landmark".
Even though the hotel failed to bring in much profit, it made enough to remain open throughout the 1980s, but with the opening of the city's first mega-resort, The Mirage
, in 1989, The Landmark's fate was sealed. Without the money necessary to renovate the rooms and certainly not enough to pay the creditors, The Landmark closed her doors in August 1990. In June 1991, The hotel's contents were liquidated via an on-site, public sale conducted by NCL/National Content Liquidators, Inc. The hotel sat empty for 2 years until, in 1993, The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (which owns the Las Vegas Convention Center across the street) bought the Landmark for $16.7 million. A year-long debate followed within the L.V.C.V.A. about the fate of the aged and run-down hotel. Some wanted to make the necessary repairs and re-open it to house convention attendees. Others wanted to demolish the buildings to add 2,000 much-needed parking spaces for the Convention Center. In the end, after much protest, it was decided that the Landmark would be demolished.
Shortly after the announcement of the hotel's pending destruction was made, a motion was filed by several historical preservation groups to have the tower declared a historical landmark thereby preventing the L.V.C.V.A. from destroying or modifying it. In the end, the court ruled in favor of the L.V.C.V.A.
In mid-1994, AB-Haz Environmental began removing asbestos insulation from the Landmark. The company was cited for violating air emission standards during the removal. AB-Haz signed a settlement in which the company agreed to pay an $18,000 fine.
In early 1995, Maryland-based Controlled Demolition, Inc.
and California-based Iconco Inc., began clearing the property and prepping the tower with 100 pounds of explosives. The casino, shops, and room wings were cleared away leaving only the gutted tower.
At 5:35AM on November 7, 1995, the Landmark was demolished in seventeen seconds. The demolition was filmed and used in Mars Attacks!
.
Today, the property which once housed the Landmark is a 2000 space parking lot for the Las Vegas Convention Center.
.
The Landmark's parking foyer was used during filming of Martin Scorsese's Casino
starring Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci
and Sharon Stone
.
An empty Landmark can be seen behind Elvis in Viva Las Vegas
.
The Landmark had recurring roles in both Vega$
and Crime Story (TV series)
While buildings are usually gutted to prepare for demolition, electrical wiring and lights were allowed to remain. As part of the movie's special effects, the lights in The Landmark were on before and during the implosion. The implosion of The Landmark was used in the film Mars Attacks!
, and in the closing credits of The Cooler
.
In Mars Attacks!
, the Landmark Hotel was shown under the name "Galaxy Hotel". Pyrotechnics
set off at the base of the Landmark were part of the special effects for this movie, which called for a UFO's Laser shooting the base and collapsing it.
Nevada°N date=July 2009°W
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. The Landmark opened on July 1, 1969 and closed on August 8, 1990.
The Landmark played host to famous celebrities such as Danny Thomas
Danny Thomas
Danny Thomas was an American nightclub comedian and television and film actor, best known for starring in the television sitcom Make Room for Daddy . He was also the founder of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital...
, Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
and Freddy Fender's
Freddy Fender
Freddy Fender , born Baldemar Garza Huerta in San Benito, Texas, United States, was a Mexican-American Tejano, country and rock and roll musician, known for his work as a solo artist and in the groups Los Super Seven and the Texas Tornados...
first appearance.
With just 525 rooms, the Landmark was small in comparison to the newer Las Vegas megaresort
Megaresort
A Megaresort is a type of destination resort which is of an exceptionally large size, sometimes featuringlarge-scale attractions . The hotels along the Las Vegas Strip are most typically thought of as megaresorts owing to their immense size and complexity...
s.
History
In 1961, Frank Carroll bought a 22 acre (8.9 ha) lot at the corner of Convention Center Drive and Paradise Road in Las Vegas, NevadaLas Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
.
With a $3,000,000 loan from the Appliance Buyers Credit Corporation, Carroll and his group hired John W. Jamieson of Tustin, California
Tustin, California
-Top employers:According to the City's 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Tustin had a population of 75,540. The population density was 6,816.7 people per square mile...
to design the tower and Edward Hendricks of Los Angeles was contracted to oversee its construction. The original plan was to build a 15 story tower, the tallest in Nevada. This was increased to 31 stories when The Mint hotel downtown decided to add more floors to its tower to claim the height record. In the end, the title went to Landmark.
In December 1962, Carroll ran out of funding. His creditors refused to loan him additional money to complete the tower and work halted. The tower sat 80% complete - an empty shell.
In 1966, after four years of dormancy, the Teamsters Union Pension Fund awarded Carroll $5.5 million to complete the Landmark. Work resumed and the tower was completed by early 1967. Landmark announced the opening of its main showroom and lounges on New Year's Eve, 1967 but due to lack of funding it did not open on time.
The Carrolls expected to have the hotel open in April 1968, however a February edition of the Las Vegas Review Journal noted that the hotel had yet to apply for a gaming license.
On January 17, 1969, reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
purchased the Landmark and agreed to pay off the nearly three dozen creditors and contractors Frank Carroll owed money to. Unlike Hughes' other Las Vegas hotels, Landmark had yet to be opened. This allowed Hughes to make all design decisions from room decor to employee uniforms.
Finally, after eight years in the construction phase, The Landmark Hotel & Casino opened on July 1, 1969 with a celebration of 500 invited guests and Danny Thomas headlining the main showroom.
Many top performers, such as Liberace, George Burns, Pat Cooper, and Phyllis Diller have performed at the hotel. The hype was short lived when it became apparent that Landmark was not bringing in much profit.
Throughout the 1970s, continuing financial troubles and bad publicity plagued Landmark. In 1970 Hughes fled Las Vegas, leaving control of his hotels to his company, Summa Corp. Landmark reported a loss of $5.9 million that year. In 1974, William G. Bennett and William Pennington made an offer to buy the Landmark but every time they came close to a deal, Hughes raised the price. They bought Circus Circus instead. On July 15, 1977, Carbon monoxide gas leaked into the hotel's air conditioning system killing 1 guest and injuring 138 others. This also caused a power failure and was found to be the result of flooding in the sub-basement.
By the late 1970s, The Landmark was in major financial trouble. Summa Corp. began selling off its hotel properties, and the Landmark was at the top of the list. Ed and Zula Wolfram of Grand Rapids, Ohio purchased the Landmark from Summa Corp. They had little success in turning the troubled hotel around. In 1982, Ed Wolfram was convicted of embezzling $47 million from his Toledo brokerage firm, Bell & Beckwith. The Landmark was seized and put up for sale.In 1983, William Morris - a Las Vegas native - purchased the hotel with plans to breathe life back into it. He used "junk bonds" from Wall Street to finance a major renovation. During an extensive exterior renovation, new red stripes were added along the windows running up the tower and the roof was painted red to match. The entrance had red-lit outriggers added and a new side entrance was added to the casino. Although these were nice visual additions, the rooms remained untouched which contributed to the hotel's eventual downfall. The hotel was renamed "The NEW Landmark".
Even though the hotel failed to bring in much profit, it made enough to remain open throughout the 1980s, but with the opening of the city's first mega-resort, The Mirage
The Mirage
The Mirage is a 3,044 room hotel and casino resort located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States.The Mirage is connected by a free tram to Treasure Island. The marquee in front of the Mirage is the largest free standing marquee in the world.-History:The Mirage was built by...
, in 1989, The Landmark's fate was sealed. Without the money necessary to renovate the rooms and certainly not enough to pay the creditors, The Landmark closed her doors in August 1990. In June 1991, The hotel's contents were liquidated via an on-site, public sale conducted by NCL/National Content Liquidators, Inc. The hotel sat empty for 2 years until, in 1993, The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (which owns the Las Vegas Convention Center across the street) bought the Landmark for $16.7 million. A year-long debate followed within the L.V.C.V.A. about the fate of the aged and run-down hotel. Some wanted to make the necessary repairs and re-open it to house convention attendees. Others wanted to demolish the buildings to add 2,000 much-needed parking spaces for the Convention Center. In the end, after much protest, it was decided that the Landmark would be demolished.
Shortly after the announcement of the hotel's pending destruction was made, a motion was filed by several historical preservation groups to have the tower declared a historical landmark thereby preventing the L.V.C.V.A. from destroying or modifying it. In the end, the court ruled in favor of the L.V.C.V.A.
In mid-1994, AB-Haz Environmental began removing asbestos insulation from the Landmark. The company was cited for violating air emission standards during the removal. AB-Haz signed a settlement in which the company agreed to pay an $18,000 fine.
In early 1995, Maryland-based Controlled Demolition, Inc.
Controlled Demolition, Inc.
Controlled Demolition, Inc. , founded by Jack Loizeaux in 1947, is a firm headquartered in Phoenix, Maryland that specializes in the use of explosives to create a controlled demolition of a structure, with the structure collapsing on itself into a pile of debris contained within the site of the...
and California-based Iconco Inc., began clearing the property and prepping the tower with 100 pounds of explosives. The casino, shops, and room wings were cleared away leaving only the gutted tower.
At 5:35AM on November 7, 1995, the Landmark was demolished in seventeen seconds. The demolition was filmed and used in Mars Attacks!
Mars Attacks!
Mars Attacks! is a 1996 American science fiction film directed by Tim Burton and based on the cult trading card series of the same name. The film uses elements of black comedy, surreal humour, and political satire, and claims to be also a parody of multiple science fiction B movies...
.
Today, the property which once housed the Landmark is a 2000 space parking lot for the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Film history
The external elevators were used in the filming of a scene in Diamonds Are ForeverDiamonds Are Forever (film)
Diamonds Are Forever is the seventh spy film in the Eon Productions James Bond series, and the sixth and final Eon Productions film to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film is based on Ian Fleming's 1956 novel of the same name, and is the second of four James Bond films...
.
The Landmark's parking foyer was used during filming of Martin Scorsese's Casino
Casino (film)
Casino is a 1995 crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the screenplay for the film with Scorsese...
starring Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci
Joe Pesci
Joseph Frank "Joe" Pesci is an American actor, comedian, and musician.He is known for playing a variety of different roles, from violent mobsters to comedic leads to quirky sidekicks...
and Sharon Stone
Sharon Stone
Sharon Vonne Stone is an American actress, film producer, and former fashion model. She achieved international recognition for her role in the erotic thriller Basic Instinct...
.
An empty Landmark can be seen behind Elvis in Viva Las Vegas
Viva Las Vegas
Viva Las Vegas is a 1964 American romantic musical movie starring music icon Elvis Presley and actress/dancer Ann-Margret. This movie is regarded by many fans of these actors and by film critics as one of Presley's best movies, and it is noted for the apparent on-screen chemistry between Presley...
.
The Landmark had recurring roles in both Vega$
Vega$
Vega$ is an American detective television drama series that aired on ABC between 1978 and 1981. It was produced by Aaron Spelling. The series, was filmed in its entirety in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is believed to be the first television series produced entirely in Las Vegas...
and Crime Story (TV series)
Crime Story (TV series)
Crime Story is an NBC TV drama created by Gustave Reininger and Chuck Adamson. The executive producer was Michael Mann, who had left Miami Vice to oversee Crime Story and direct the film Manhunter. The show premiered with a two hour pilot — a movie which had been exhibited theatrically —...
While buildings are usually gutted to prepare for demolition, electrical wiring and lights were allowed to remain. As part of the movie's special effects, the lights in The Landmark were on before and during the implosion. The implosion of The Landmark was used in the film Mars Attacks!
Mars Attacks!
Mars Attacks! is a 1996 American science fiction film directed by Tim Burton and based on the cult trading card series of the same name. The film uses elements of black comedy, surreal humour, and political satire, and claims to be also a parody of multiple science fiction B movies...
, and in the closing credits of The Cooler
The Cooler
The Cooler is a 2003 romantic drama film directed by Wayne Kramer. The original screenplay was written by Kramer and Frank Hannah. In gambling parlance, a "cooler" is an unlucky individual whose presence at the tables results in a streak of bad luck for the other players.- Plot :Unlucky Bernie...
.
In Mars Attacks!
Mars Attacks!
Mars Attacks! is a 1996 American science fiction film directed by Tim Burton and based on the cult trading card series of the same name. The film uses elements of black comedy, surreal humour, and political satire, and claims to be also a parody of multiple science fiction B movies...
, the Landmark Hotel was shown under the name "Galaxy Hotel". Pyrotechnics
Pyrotechnics
Pyrotechnics is the science of using materials capable of undergoing self-contained and self-sustained exothermic chemical reactions for the production of heat, light, gas, smoke and/or sound...
set off at the base of the Landmark were part of the special effects for this movie, which called for a UFO's Laser shooting the base and collapsing it.
External links
- Slideshow of Landmark photos
- Landmark demolition video
- "Death of the Landmark Hotel" (Tribute video)
Nevada°N date=July 2009°W