Photographer’s Old Vegas work to be at center of upcoming events

Leila Navidi

The Neon Museum this year put $1.4 million into moving and rebuilding the conch-shaped lobby of La Concha Motel. After it ran short of funding to finish the reconstruction, word came this month of a federal grant to help complete the project.

By Kristen Peterson (contact)

Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Dennis McBride knew about a collection of photographs given to the Nevada State Museum, but only recently did the curator of history and collections realize the richness of the supply left behind by photographer Jay Florian Mitchell.

Taken in 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, the aerial shots and photos of landmarks and events cover almost every square inch of greater Las Vegas, chronicling its growth on and off the Strip.

He captured the Moulin Rouge days before it opened, the new McCarran Airport in the 1960s, the building of La Concha and a trove of midcentury modern buildings designed by Walter Zick and Harris Sharp — photographs that McBride has been wanting to make public while sorting out exactly who Florian Mitchell was.

The photos have spawned a series of events, beginning Thursday, that celebrate Las Vegas’ architectural history: a discussion on the Moulin Rouge, a panel discussion and bus tour about Zick and Sharp and a lecture by architectural critic Alan Hess on La Concha.

The centerpiece is Saturday’s forum and bus tour, “Beyond the Mint: Mid-Century Modern Architecture of Walter Zick,” led by Hess.

While in town, Hess will swing by the Fifth Street School on Monday to present a lecture on La Concha and its architect, Paul Revere Williams.

Though the Moulin Rouge event was planned separately, some of the photos for the presentation are by Florian Mitchell. The building was designed by Zick.

Here’s a breakdown of the events:

1. Walter Zick

Celebrated for the old downtown Mint and the Union Plaza, Zick’s and Sharp’s architecture extended deep into the Las Vegas community — mid-mod style — via banks, hospitals, homes, schools and other civic buildings. “These guys had a major hand in designing postwar Las Vegas,” says Lynn Zook of Classic Las Vegas, who organized the event. “Many of the buildings are still standing.” The Zick bus tour has been filled, but the forum, featuring Hess, Eric Strain of Assemblage Studio and two of Zick’s daughters, Karen Zick Goff and Claire Zick Walker, is still open to the public.

Details: Noon to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, reception at 11:30 a.m.; Nevada State Museum, 700 Twin Lakes Drive; $3; 486-5205

2. La Concha

Slicing up a shell-shaped concrete building with swooping overhangs then hauling it down the road in the middle of a cold December night was no easy task. But La Concha’s lobby, designed by famed Los Angeles architect Paul Revere Williams, sits reconstructed on the grounds of the Neon Museum. A representation of midcentury modern roadside Googie architecture, the 1961 conch-shell-inspired structure is a local favorite and will serve as the Neon Museum’s visitor center. Hess will discuss La Concha’s history and Williams, one of few black architects at the time, at a presentation sponsored by the Neon Museum, the city of Las Vegas and Assemblage Studio.

Details: 7 p.m. Monday; Fifth Street School Auditorium; free

3. Alan Hess

An architectural critic and columnist for the San Jose Mercury News, Hess is an expert on midcentury modern design and a preservationist dedicated to postwar and roadside architecture. His books include “Googie Redux: Ultramodern Roadside Architecture,” “Viva Las Vegas: After-Hours Architecture” and “Googie: Fifties Coffee Shop Architecture.”

4. Moulin Rouge

Opening in 1955, the first integrated hotel and casino was popular among celebrities, black and white, after their Strip gigs. But it closed in less than two years. The Zick and Harris building was adorned with Betty Willis’ giant, beautifully scripted neon sign. It sat crumbling since its closure, caught fire twice and was razed this year. Its history and myth will be discussed by Carrie Pollard, dancer at the Moulin Rouge; Trish Geran, a local author who focuses on the African-American stories of Las Vegas; Claytee White, director of the Oral History Research Center at UNLV; and Richard Taylor, a local historian and writer.

Details: 6:30 p.m. Thursday; Springs Preserve’s Desert Learning Center; $9; 822-7786

5. Jay Florian Mitchell

Florian Mitchell was a photographer who worked in New York in the late 1930s and ’40s and then moved to Las Vegas and opened a studio here. His first recorded photographs of Las Vegas were from the early 1950s. Florian Mitchell photographed Las Vegas extensively. After his death, one of his sons gave his photographs to the state museum.