Where I Stand - Brian Greenspun: New Frontier owner inspires a new frontier on the Strip

Saturday, Jan. 17, 1998 | 7:07 a.m.

While it may be a bit too early -- technically -- it isn't a great stretch to get in line with those people in our community to help welcome the newest owner of the Frontier Hotel, soon to be known again as the New Frontier. Final approval awaits the Nevada Gaming Commission meeting on Feb. 1.

That approval will, barring some last-minute snafu, be one of the most looked-forward-to events in Nevada's rich and colorful gambling history. That's because when the New Frontier's newest owner, Phil Ruffin, came riding into town he did so on the shoulders of organized labor, the Nevada gaming establishment, including the regulators, every elected official in Southern Nevada and some in Carson City and practically everyone in Las Vegas who saw the labor strife at the Frontier as an unreasonable and unnecessary darkening of the bright lights of our future.

By the way, the current owners of the hotel, the Elardi family, were also among those ushering Mr. Ruffin into town because his purchase of their interests removes them from what had become a no-win and no-chance situation. That was made clear when state Gaming Control Board Chairman Bill Bible said, "This is a win for the Elardis, a win for the Culinary Union and a win for the local community."

To be sure, the labor problems that have plagued the Frontier and created an unsightly blemish on the otherwise beautiful face of tourism growth in Nevada will go away as the new owner has indicated his willingness to embrace the union. And, for sure, the embrace is being returned with great enthusiasm from union leaders and workers alike because the upcoming labor negotiations at the New Frontier and the rest of the city, while far from a slam dunk, will be helped as a result of this ownership change.

Before the sale becomes official and the immediate world concentrates on Mr. Ruffin's plans for the future of his hotel, I thought it might be worthwhile taking a short stroll down memory lane. The hotel has produced many great names in the Las Vegas hotel industry -- from the early days of Bill Moore and R.O. Cannon and Jake and Bill Kozloff, and through the days of Al Benedict and Joe Kelley, both of whom started near the bottom and went on to illustrious careers in the gaming and hotel industry.

Of course, Howard Hughes brought a brand-new kind of experience to Las Vegas and was single-handedly responsible for both reviving and, later, almost destroying the good that he had wrought. And who will ever forget "Mr. Frontier," Morton Saiger, who was there at the beginning and, but for the fact that he just couldn't make it to the century mark, would have been there even today as the hotel embarks on yet another course.

Yes, there is a rich and vital history of the Last Frontier Hotel with all of its name and ownership iterations. It has been a lesson of endurance. That it has endured and maintained a colorful place in the ongoing growth of our city speaks louder than any of the words we can use to explain that phenomenon. And now there is a new chapter to be written. More than most of the other hotels that are relative newcomers to the scene, the Frontier carries with it a fairy tale kind of excitement because of its long, rich and winding history as a player on this movable stage.

We are told that Phil Ruffin is a successful industrialist from Kansas. We know that Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz was also from Kansas. And just like there was a happy ending to Dorothy's trek when she left her home, we wish Mr. Ruffin a happy beginning as he takes the Last Frontier on a journey to the next frontier. Whatever the ending, we wish him and the New Frontier good fortune.