Frazier Hall has been destroyed

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was the first building on the campus of Nevada Southern University.  It was designed by famed Las Vegas architects Zick and Sharp.  It was named for a woman who made education her cause, Maude Frazier.  She is beloved by the many people who knew her, were influenced by her education first cause and who had better lives for coming under her tutelage.

For the last year and a half, preservationists have been trying to save Maude Frazier Hall from the wrecking ball.  The majority of colleges around the country usually save the first building that was built on their campus.  Many see it as a timeline and a yard stick for how far a college has come from its humble beginnings.  Whether small or large, well-known or not, colleges usually take pride in preserving and utilizing their first campus building.

Well, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (formerly Nevada Southern University) is not in that league.  They are in a league of their own.  Word has just come from FCLV member Dennis McBride that UNLV is in the process of tearing down Frazier Hall.  Dennis says that the majority of students and employees on campus had no idea the demolition was taking place today.

FCLV member Mary Martinez, Anthropology instructor Heidi Swank, the Atomic Age Alliance, Thalia Dondero, Jack LeVine, Donna Andress and the alumni of Las Vegas High are all to be commended for their efforts in trying to save this important building.

I 'd be willing to bet there is no joy in Las Vegas preservation circles this afternoon.

Maude Frazier Hall

1957 to 2009

R.I.P.

 

 

Special thanks to UNLV Special Collections and Joel Rosales at Leavinglv.net for letting us use this images.

Las Vegas Memories courtesy of Life Magazine

 

In its heyday it was called the Mirage.  The motel sat on the Highway 91 aka the highway to Los Angeles.

With its pool sited in front of the motel, passing motorists could look over and see swimmers enjoy a cool dip in the aqua water on a hot summer day.  It was a great example of roadside architecture.

When Steve Wynn decided to build his first hotel in the mid-1980s, he decided to call it the Mirage.  He had to buy the rights to the name from the owners of the motel.  A deal was made and Mirage Motel became the Glass Pool Inn.

Its distinctive pool graced the roadside until the spring of 2005 when the motel and the pool were demolished.  It is now an empty lot.

Showgirls take a moment to play a slot machine hoping Lady Luck will smile upon them.

 

Keno players hoping for that lucky number.

 

Photos courtesy of the Life Magazine/Google Archive

Las Vegas in the 1950s

More photos from the Life Magazine/Google Archive:

This was taken by Life photographer, Loomis Dean, in 1952.  Back then, $3,000,000 was a lot of money.

Today the same plot of land would sell for considerable more.  I have to say, I do enjoy seeing all that

desert.  Reminds me of the Las Vegas of my youth.

 

Comedian Phil Silver gets in on the showgirl act in another great Loomis Dean picture from the Las Vegas Strip, circa 1952.

 

The famous Dinner Show audience watches the opening act, possibly the Copa Girls from the famed Sands Hotel.  This is another photo by Loomis Dean that captures the quaintness and the energy of the Las Vegas Strip of our collective memory.

 

 

Las Vegas World War II Bond Rally

 

 

Today's Las Vegas picture from the Life Magazine/Google Archive is the wonderful photo from 1943.

The police are guarding $500,000 in silver that is part of World War II bond rally.  It could be at the El Rancho Vegas, the Hotel Last Frontier or one of the small gambling joints on Fremont Street.

The photographer was John Florea.