Historic Desert Inn closes its doors after 50 years

Lisa Snedeker

Monday, Aug. 28, 2000 | 4:12 a.m.

When builder Wilbur Clark opened the Desert Inn he tossed away the silver keys to the main entrance doors, proclaiming there would never be a need to lock them again.

Despite changes to the property over the past 50 years, the doors never closed - until Monday.

The Desert Inn resort, a Las Vegas Strip icon, officially closed at 2 p.m. under gray skies and a sprinkling of rain drops, marking the end of one of the Strip's most legendary properties.

Reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes bought the resort when management tried to move him out of his penthouse on New Year's Eve to make way for high-rollers. The rich and famous teed-off from the golf course. Legendary entertainers including Frank Sinatra and Edgar Bergen played its Crystal Showroom. And in the 70s, it was the setting for a popular TV detective series, "Vegas."

In recent years, however, the relatively small 715-room resort struggled to compete with the 3,000-5,000 room billion-dollar megaresorts down the Strip.

Megaresort developer Steve Wynn, former owner of Mirage Resorts Inc., purchased the ailing property in April and plans to replace the Desert Inn with a massive new megaresort with two 59-story hotel towers.

The weather matched the mood of the last guests and out-of-work employees as they trickled out the hotel's Palm Tower entrance. The slot machines and the table games already were quieted when the casino closed at 2 a.m., spokeswoman Caroline Coyle said.

With few guests - only 300 of the hotel's rooms were still operating - the casino nearly was deserted over its last weekend, Coyle said.

Jack Butler, a former employee who helped open the resort as a bell captain April 24, 1950, stood in the valet area saying good-bye to the place he has called home for the past half-century.

"I was the first one in, so I wanted to be the last one out," said the 90-year-old who retired 10 years ago. "It's very sad. I hang out here all the time since my wife died. My car only knows how to come to this place."

Employees and guests shared hugs and tears while they took snapshots in front of the hotel.

Half a century ago the legendary resort was the fifth property to open on a two-lane highway that would become the Las Vegas Strip.

In the resort's final days, it seemed everyone wanted to take a piece of that history with them. Everything from decks of cards to dice to hotel room keys bearing the property's photograph disappeared as souvenirs. Employees were offered money for parts of their uniforms.

A birthday present for his wife, Elaine, Wynn plans to usher in a new era on the property he purchased for $270 million.

"On this final day of operations of The Desert Inn, we cannot help but feel nostalgic," the couple said in a statement. "This property made a singular contribution to the history of Las Vegas and we all benefited from that in some way."

Wynn, who sparked the city's late 1990s building boom, has said the 220-acre site is underutilized. Besides the two towers, his plans include turning the golf course - the only one remaining on The Strip - into a giant lake.

"Now the time has come to take advantage of the strategic location of this property to create its next chapter," the statement said. "We believe that no other real estate in the state provides the exciting possibilities that this place does."

Wynn has said he will keep the Desert Inn Golf Course open until September 2001. And a handful of employees will be retained in corporate offices. No other timetable for the new resort has been released.

The Desert Inn had been scheduled to close Wednesday, but the loss of workers to the newly opened Aladdin and the soon-to-open Suncoast hotel and casinos in the city's northwest led to the early closing, hotel officials said.

"A lot of workers left the state to find other jobs," said Chris Heckler, who worked in VIP Services. "A number went to the Aladdin and the Venetian."

Burbank resident Ken Fisher was one of the last guests to stay in the hotel and the last person to retrieve his car from valet parking. He purposely came to Las Vegas to stay at the Desert Inn on its last night of operation.

"It's bittersweet," he said, adding he stayed at the resort for the first time 13 years ago. "You feel like a piece of history is gone."