Photographical retrospective explores 1940s Flamingo Las Vegas
By AMANDA LLEWELLYN
VIEW STAFF WRITER
News Bureau curator Brian Paco Alvarez stands in front of some of the 28 photos that are on display at the West Charleston Library, 6301 W. Charleston Ave., as part of "The Man Who Invented Las Vegas," a photographical retrospective about Billy Wilkerson. In 1944, Wilkerson was the owner of a 30-acre patch of land that has come to be known as the Las Vegas Strip.Jim Miller/View
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Less than a century ago, Las Vegas was nothing more than a mediocre collection of hay-seed casinos plopped in the middle of the Nevada desert -- not even an echo of the glamorous, metropolitan city that exists today.
But the Las Vegas of 2008 could never have existed if it weren't for the visionary efforts of one man more than 50 years ago -- Hollywood entrepreneur Billy Wilkerson.
Valley residents have the opportunity to learn more about Wilkerson, his mission and the history of Las Vegas through the West Charleston Library's photographical retrospective The Man Who Invented Las Vegas.
The exhibition features photographs from the Las Vegas News Bureau archive detailing the evolution of Sin City's first resort hotel, Flamingo Las Vegas.
The photos present the Flamingo Las Vegas' most intriguing and unique design elements from the 1940s and 1950s: the Champagne Tower with its effervescing bubbles in varying hues of pink neon, the Jetsonian grand colonnade, and the then-new iconic Flamingo Las Vegas sign font.
History and design buffs will have the opportunity to peruse the photos, taking in every detail, from the Moderne, quintessentially American southwest architecture of the hotel's exterior, to the posh, post-Art Deco furnishings of the resort's original nightclub.
"No matter what you're looking for, it's the detail that becomes the most interesting," News Bureau curator Brian Paco Alvarez said. "That's why the photos have been blown up. We knew that people would be able to walk away with a real sense of history."
In the early 1940s, the Flamingo Las Vegas was the first hotel of its kind in a town that had become accustomed to seedy downtown gaming halls with sawdust floors, where patrons donned cowboy boots and casual wear to spend an evening at the tables.
The hotel, which ushered in the golden age of Sin City, was the brainchild of Wilkerson, Los Angeles business man and founder of the Hollywood Reporter.
By the early 1960s, the crass sawdust joints of yesteryear were being replaced by the classy carpet establishments of the Strip, and it all started with a vision perpetuated and executed, at least in part, by Wilkerson.
"He was an entrepreneur responsible for founding, and running, some of Hollywood's hottest nightclubs," Alvarez said. "He knew what it would take to build a new Las Vegas, and it was his vision that changed the face of this city."
According to Alvarez, mid-century Southern California design elements were a guideline for Wilkerson, who wanted to bring the Sunset Strip to the desert.
"This is the high design of the Southwest. You can still see it all over this town, and it was influenced largely by what was happening in high design in Los Angeles during that era," Alvarez said.
According to Alvarez, in 1944 Wilkerson purchased a 30-acre patch of land located three miles south of Downtown and just east of Route 91, in an area now known as the Las Vegas Strip.
"Wilkerson believed that it was the ideal location for his new resort," Alvarez said. "Not just because it was removed from the Wild West image of Fremont Street, but it was border the only highway out of town. The last thing people would see when leaving Las Vegas would be the Flamingo."
In accordance with his vision for the hotel, Wilkerson recruited renowned architect George Vernon Russell, charging the designer with the task of infusing the fledgling resort with amenities more commonly found on the East Coast: air conditioning, a health club, spa, nightclub, showroom and an upscale restaurant.
During the construction of the hotel, Wilkerson ran into financial problems, forcing him to seek out alternative means of financing. During his time in Los Angeles, Wilkerson hob knobbed with a variety of people, from movie stars to politicians, artists and mobsters.
It was because of the connections he'd made during that chapter in his life that the answer to his dilemma presented itself.
"He was able to persuade individuals of colorful business acumen to invest in his project," Alvarez said. "One of these investors included the notorious Meyer Lansky, who delegated overseeing the Flamingo project to a man by the name of Benjamin Siegel, better known as 'Bugsy' Siegel."
According to Alvarez, it was Siegel's involvement that led to Wilkerson's eventual departure.
"Wilkerson feared for his life," Alvarez said. "And it was because of Siegel's mismanagement that the construction costs ballooned from $1 million to more than $6 million, making the Flamingo one of the most expensive hotels ever built."
The resort opened, still under construction, to a host of celebrity entertainers, including Spanish band leader Xavier Cugat, Jimmy Durante, Rose Marie, Clark Gable, Cesar Romero, Lana Turner and Joan Crawford in late 1946.
The doors would close indefinitely just two days later, only to reopen in the spring under the direction of new management.
In the first 10 years of its existence, the Flamingo Las Vegas endured a number of redesigns.
The most notable occurred in 1952 at the hands of Los Angeles architects William Pereira and Charles Luckman.
The pair was hired to redesign the entrance, lobby, casino and theater.
"The 1950s ushered in the Atomic Age, space rockets and futurism -- the new Flamingo represented an era of optimism," Alvarez said. "The new architectural elements used in combination with the sleekest mid-century furnishings finally completed the Flamingo's transformation. And it's all here for people to see. Everything has been documented in photographs. It's incredible to look at where we've been, and see just how similar it is to where we're going. Look at the hotels now. Las Vegas is getting away from themed resorts and going back to it's roots. Elegance."
Like Las Vegas, the Flamingo Las Vegas has reinvented itself many times over, forever striving to maintain a more modern look and feel.
"This exhibit is so interesting because it's really representative of the city itself," Alvarez said. "It all started with this one resort, but this town has been in a constant flux of change ever since. Nothing stays the same in Vegas. Maybe that's part of its charm."
The Man Who Invented Las Vegas runs through May 13 at the West Charleston Library, 6301 W. Charleston Blvd., during library hours. Admission is free.
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