Las Vegas Summer of Love Labor Day Concerts

As the summer is winding down in other parts of the country (but not in Las Vegas where a heat advisory is in effect and temps are supposed to reach 110), Labor Day weekend looms on the horizon.  The Fremont Street Experience is hosting it's End of Summer- What a Bummer bash.

If you are going to be in town for the holiday weekend, here's the schedule:

"Labor Day Weekend: End of Summer, What a Bummer Bash" will close the summer concert series the weekend of Friday, September 4 through Monday, September 7. Highlighting the weekend will be concerts by Canned Heat on Saturday, Sept. 5, and Three Dog Night on Sunday, Sept. 6.

All 10 Fremont Street Experience properties (Binion´s Gambling Hall and Hotel, The California, Fitz Casino and Hotel, Four Queens Hotel & Casino, Fremont Hotel & Casino, Golden Gate Hotel & Casino, Golden Nugget, Main Street Station Casino, Brewery & Hotel, Plaza Hotel & Casino and Vegas Club Hotel & Casino) will take part in the "Summer of ´69: Vegas or Bust" with specially themed promotions and outdoor food and drink specials. Retail shops and kiosks will also feature custom "Summer of ‘69" merchandise.

All events are free and open to the public.

Mayor Goodman calls Chicago reporter "a moron"

For information on our upcoming Tribute to Walter Zick and Mid-Century Modern Las Vegas and bus tour click here.

Believing that any publicity is good publicity, Mayor Oscar Goodman lambasted a Chicago reporter earlier today and called him a "moron".

Why?  Over the Mob Museum, what else.  Yes, he really is the Mayor.  And yes, he can go 0 to Over the Top in less than 60 seconds.

According to the R-J:

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman lambasted a Chicago television reporter as a "moron" today for casting aspersions on the city's planned Mob Museum and an artifact held up as a main attraction — part of the bullet-ridden wall from the St. Valentine's Day massacre.

The report on WLS-TV claimed that Las Vegas was overstating how much of the wall it had, and — because of a miscommunication between the city's public relations staff and the reporter — mixed up a photograph of the wall section the city is getting and a fake wall that Goodman and former Nevada Sen. Richard Bryan pretended to knock down at an event marking the beginning of the museum's interior remodeling and construction.

"We never said we're buying it all!" Goodman shouted at his Thursday morning press conference. "That's what's wrong with members of the media who aren't honest. They put out a very untrue message.

"First of all, he called Sen. Bryan the senator from Arizona, this moron. And then he said ... what we busted into was not the St. Valentine's Day wall. We never pretended that it was."

Actually, the story said Bryan is the former governor of Arizona. He is not. He was once the governor of Nevada.

A nonprofit group that's administering the museum project paid about $300,000 for the section of the wall from a Chicago warehouse that was the scene of a brutal gang murder on Feb. 14, 1929. Coverage of the murders cemented the event as a symbol of the violence of organized crime of that era. The collection once belonged to Canadian business George Patey, who originally had about 400 bricks but sold many off to collectors over the years. The museum has 331 of those bricks, said city spokesman David Riggleman.

Any story about the Mob Museum, formally known as the Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, generates widespread interest, and this one is no different, Goodman crowed.

"Morons get punished," he said. "And this guy's getting punished now. You know why? Because the phone is ringing off the hook now by people who heard the moron's story, or read the moron's story, who want to give us things for the Mob Museum."

I feel bad for the bad for the poor reporter.  But maybe next time, he'll learn to fact check his story and I bet he never makes the mistake again of mis-identifying Arizona and Nevada.

Cultural Corridor adds historic Signs

The first of three vintage neon signs will be set into place on Las Vegas Boulevard, in the Cultural Corridor, on Monday night, Aug. 24, during the overnight hours. The completely refurbished Bow & Arrow Motel sign will be installed in a median island north of Bonanza Road, as part of the $1.1 million Neon Sign Improvement Project.

Years ago, the Bow & Arrow Motel was located on Las Vegas Boulevard at Wyoming Avenue near Dino’s. The sign is believed to have been installed at the motel during the late 1950s or early 60s.

A total of three completely restored neon signs are planned for placement on Las Vegas Boulevard, from Bonanza to just north of Washington Avenue, as part of this project. New landscaped median islands are also being installed.

The other two signs that will be installed in the coming weeks are the Silver Slipper sign that sat atop the Silver Slipper Gambling Hall, and the Binion’s Horseshoe sign that used to be at Binion’s Horseshoe Casino on Fremont Street.

Once the signs are in place, crews will work to provide power and conduct a series of tests prior to the signs being officially put into service.

The signs being installed on Las Vegas Boulevard are in the heart of Las Vegas’ Cultural Corridor. The corridor is made up of the highest concentration of cultural institutions in Las Vegas and includes Cashman Center, the Las Vegas Library, the Las Vegas Natural History Museum, Lied Discovery Children’s Museum, The Neon Museum, the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park, and the Reed Whipple Cultural Center.

These three signs are also the first in a series of historic neon signs that will be completely restored and eventually placed on Las Vegas Boulevard, from Washington to Sahara Avenue, as part of the Las Vegas Boulevard Scenic Byway Program.

Funding for this project is provided by the Centennial license plate fund and the city of Las Vegas. The signs that are being used in the project are on loan from the Neon Museum. The Bow & Arrow Motel sign was originally restored through donations to the Neon Museum in the name of Las Vegas historian Frank Wright.

Rafael Construction is the contractor. The city of Las Vegas is managing the project. The improvement project started in May and is slated for completion in late September or early October.

Photos courtesy of Brian "Paco" Alvarez. 

Buy this Book to take on your 10 Fun Things to Do In Las Vegas

Want to know more fun historical facts and see historical images of many of the places on our "10 Fun Things to Do in Las Vegas" (as well as the history of the Strip and Neon Signs) then follow this link:

Las Vegas: 1905-1965

and purchase your autographed copy today!