August 27, 1964

By Las Vegas Sun Staff

The Sahara Hotel has bounced back from a mid-day fire Tuesday that closed entertainment and gambling for one night with a tongue-in-cheek marque inviting. "Visit The Hottest Casino In Town."

August 26, 1964

Judy Edsall

There was a different kind of panic at the Sahara Hotel fire yesterday, the kind that sets in when you're about to leave behind a nickel.

June 3, 1967

By Las Vegas Sun Staff

Three men arrested in connection with the $75,000 Sahara Hotel bomb extortion plot were returned in Las Vega Friday night from two Southern California sheriff’s officers by Clark County Sheriff’s Detectives.

July 21, 1968

Sun Staff

A fire that started on the roof of the Hotel Sahara's casino early yesterday afternoon sent gamblers out into the street and caused an estimated $1 million in damage before it was stopped. Damage was the main casino, the hotel's executive offices, coffee shop lounge and showroom. Hundreds were evacuated from these areas, plus more from the new casino addition, which escaped damage.

August 1, 1981

Harold Hyman

Arson may have been the cause of a blaze that routed more than 200 guests from their rooms in the Sahara Hotel Friday night, fire department officials disclosed.

May 5, 1982

Scott A. Zamost

Hacienda Hotel owner Paul W. Lowden, once a struggling Las Vegas lounge musician, has signed a deal to buy the Del E. Webb Corp.-owned Sahara Hotel for $50 million, making him the owner of hotels on both ends of the Las Vegas Strip, Webb officials said Tuesday.

July 2, 1982

Scott A. Zamost

By the time Tom Kuhn discovered some of the addresses on the credit cards were a cemetery, bar and health food stand on Wall Street, the gamblers had pulled off the perfect crime.

July 30, 1982

Bill Becker

A Sahara Hotel blackjack dealer and seven card players were indicted by the Clark County grand jury Thursday on charges of taking part in cheating scam at the hotel's casino.

October 10, 1995

By Las Vegas Sun Staff

Gaming magnate William Bennett is using a wrecking ball to launch a new era in the storied history of the Sahara hotel-casino.

March 21, 1996

A $65 million renovation project began Wednesday as construction workers started razing poolside bungalows that once housed some of the Strip's biggest stars, including the Beatles, George Burns, Ann-Margret and Tony Bennett.

October 31, 1997

Bob Shemeligian

Built by entrepreneur Milton Prell in 1952, the Sahara thrived in the early days of Las Vegas, but for the past 20 years, the sprawling hotel-casino on the Strip has faced difficult times, including competing with the growth of megaresorts on the Strip.

February 28, 2000

By Richard N. Velotta

A Maryland company that has pioneered theme park rides propelled by electromagnetic fields is building the fastest roller coaster in Las Vegas at the Sahara hotel-casino. The new ride, which will open in late March or early April and has been named "Speed-The Ride," was developed by Premier Rides, Millersville, Md.

October 4, 2002

By Jerry Fink

Marlene Dietrich onstage in the Congo Room, with Burt Bacharach at the piano.

October 4, 2002

By Liz Benston

It was called the "Jewel of the Desert" when it opened in 1952 on a windblown plain that was home to only five other casino resorts. The modest two-story motel -- formerly called "Club Bingo" -- was a harbinger of the extravagance that was to bloom decades later in the desert. The Sahara opened with the area's first Olympic-size swimming pool.

March 9, 2007

By Las Vegas Sun Staff

One of the Strip's historic casino properties is being sold to a Los Angeles-based partnership that includes a Hollywood producer.

April 8, 2007

By Liz Benston

Independent casino operators are a dying breed on the Strip, a playing field controlled by growing chains with billions of dollars at their disposal.

December 15, 2009

By Steve Green

The Sahara hotel-casino in Las Vegas is temporarily closing two of its three hotel towers and its buffet, citing slow business during the holiday season. Verena King, a spokeswoman for the company with Preferred Public Relations, couldn't immediately say Tuesday how many rooms at the 1,720-room property would be affected; or how many jobs would be affected. "If the demand did increase, then more rooms would be made available (at the closed towers)," King said.

March 11, 2011

By Steve Green

The owner of the Sahara hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip on Friday announced plans to close the property on May 16. "The continued operation of the aging Sahara was no longer economically viable," said a statement from Sam Nazarian, CEO of SBE Entertainment Group.

March 12, 2011

By Dylan Scott

Helmut Hartleb first visited Las Vegas in 1958, six years after the Sahara opened. He remembers the lights and the excitement on the north end of the Strip. And for the past 30 or more years, he and his wife, Joan, have made a yearly trip to Las Vegas.

April 26, 2011

By Steve Green

Las Vegas Strip hotel-casino executive Larry King didn’t have to look far for a new job when the Sahara announced March 11 it would be closing on May 16. Riviera Holdings Corp. announced King, 49, had been hired as chief financial officer, vice president–finance and treasurer.

May 13, 2011

By Amanda Finnegan

In its prime, the north end of the Strip — the home to casinos such as the Thunderbird, Silver Slipper and Stardust — defined Vegas glitz. Today’s snapshot is a much different picture.