Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

New life for Tod

When the Tod Motor Motel opened in 1962, it offered a stunning neon sign and a folded-plate roof on its porte-cochere. Nothing fancy, nothing too simple, it was just one motel among many in a dense stretch of neon.

"Back in the day, that was motel row," says Lynn Zook, director of Classic Las Vegas Archives, referring to the Strip just north of Sahara Avenue. "That whole section used to be motel after motel after motel, and they all had fabulous signage."

But as Las Vegas grew outward, the neighborhood declined. Motels changed owners; some closed, some got new facades. In recent years places like the Tod, at 1508 Las Vegas Blvd. South, became a haven for drug deals and prostitution. It fit snuggly with the low-rent apartments around it, while its deco neon sign traveled the globe via photo books and the Internet.

When its new owners strung a red sign above its parking lot this week announcing, "Own your piece of the Strip. Starting at $49,999," word spread quickly.

The facade has been repainted, rooms were gutted, fumigated, then filled with furnishings from the Stardust. The rooms are merely placeholders for the future of the new boutique motel that hopes to offer condos. General Manager Ran Tadmor and his crew have created plush models in the motel of what's to come: marble floors, new walls, designer sinks and contemporary furniture.

The change is a surprise to many, given the motel's history and location near the area at the base of the Stratosphere Tower often referred to as Naked City. Fans of the remaining motor lodges near Fremont Street and Las Vegas Boulevard are ecstatic. The motel renovation represents a small triumph over neon-poaching and the high-rise condo craze that is demolishing Las Vegas' history.

"The best thing that could happen to these motels along Las Vegas Boulevard and lower Fremont is that they turn into boutique motels," says longtime resident Brian "Paco" Alvarez, who lives downtown and would like to see Las Vegas bring its old motels to vintage glory similar to Palm Springs, Calif. "They cater to a unique market."

Mary Margaret Stratton, founder of the local midcentury modern group Atomic Age Alliance, says many tourists come here mainly to see old Las Vegas, and the collection of old motels on lower Fremont Street (east of the Strip) has become a destination in itself.

Regarding the Tod, she says, "I love what they did. The colors remind me of South Beach Miami or the doo-wop motels on the south Jersey shore in Wildwood, N.J."

Tadmor, who along with his wife, Carol, runs the Tod, started renovating three months ago. Crews are working overtime.

The change hasn't been easy. Tadmor says drug dealers would use bathroom windows facing the alleys to conduct business, kind of like a drive-through service. Rooms were filthy and had bugs. Travelers would stop in and want to stay, but would find that the rooms were not hospitable. The pool had dried out and had holes and cracks.

"The first six weeks were very rough," he says. "This place had been run like an hourly place. At first the police wouldn't even respond."

The pool has since been resurfaced. Tadmor has resurfaced walkways with stamped concrete to give the faux-stone effect, replaced windows, and installed special lighting and security cameras on the building's exterior.

"Now, nobody can hide. If they're here for any reason other than for being a tourist, I've got it all on camera."

The Tod's back buildings, with their dingy brown and beige paint, offer a look at the hotel's past. Tadmor says they will be painted in the next couple of months. He says he has spent about $300,000 on the renovations and plans to spend another $300,000 before the motel is in ideal condition.

Tadmor and Las Vegas Councilman Gary Reese have discussed gating the alley at both ends to keep unwanted vehicles out. Kristin Bartolo, owner of the neighboring Dino's Lounge, has signed onto the plan. She says customers have long been afraid of people and activity in the alley. The issue is scheduled to go before the City Council next month.

Reese says he supports Tadmor's efforts.

"That's what Las Vegas was built on," he says referring to the Tod and other motels.

The Tod was purchased in 2005. Its new owners tried to buy all the property from the Tod to Wyoming Avenue, including Dino's Lounge, and use the land for a high rise. But Bartolo says the property has been in her family for almost 50 years and she had no intention of selling.

Herb Sider, an owner, says he plans to sell condo units at the Tod immediately. But he'll first need approval from the city .

The Tod is just the latest in Las Vegas lodgings being refurbished. The Aruba, at 1215 Las Vegas Blvd. South, is at the original Lotus Motel site, which later became the Thunderbird Motel. The Artisan Hotel, at 1501 W. Sahara Ave., used to be a Travel Lodge and is now a boutique motel with replicated art masterpieces, gilded furniture, bronze statues and mahogany walls.

"The one I totally pray for is the Gables," says Stratton, who calls the 1940s motor court at 1301 Fremont St. "absolutely one of the gems of the city."

Another one of Stratton's favorites is the Bonanza Lodge, with its Western theme and sleigh on the roof.

Photographer Allen Sandquist, who grew up in Las Vegas and has been researching its neighborhoods and architecture for years, predicts they'll be demolished with all the others.

But he adds, "I'd much rather see them restored. I see all these high-rise condos going in, and there is no character."

Sandquist and Zook see preservation of the signs as a way to draw more attention to the buildings. Many signs are being poached by collectors or damaged by owners.

Zook suggests Las Vegas consider adopting relighting efforts similar to those in Los Angeles. The LUMENS (Living Urban Museum of Electric Signs) project has relighted more than 150 signs in Los Angeles.

For now, the Tod Motor Motel sign is secure.

"It's staying," Tadmor says. "I love that sign."

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