Untold Stories- This Thursday- The Moulin Rouge

 

On October 1st, we are focusing on the history and myth surrounding the famed Moulin Rouge Hotel on the Westside of Las Vegas.

The hotel opened in 1955 as the first integrated hotel and casino in town.  The opening night was attended by some of the biggest names in entertainment.  Everyone had high hopes for this wonderfully designed (by Walter Zick and Harris Sharp) hotel with its giant, neon-script sign (designed by Betty Willis).

The hotel seemed to flourish and stories have been handed down over the years of deserted casinos on the Strip late at night because everyone was at the Moulin Rouge gambling, hanging out and enjoying the jam sessions and the late, late show.

In less than two years, it was closed.  Rumors have been rife for years of the mob being involved, of financial improprieties and more.

On Thursday, Oct, 1st,  we will try to distinquish fact from fiction, history from myth and try to discern what really happened.

Joining us on the panel will be:

Carrie Pollard, dancer who performed at the Moulin Rouge back in 1955

Trish Geran, local author who focuses on the African-American stories of Las Vegas and who's grandmother ran one of the most famous boarding rooms for African-American performers.

Claytee White, director of the Oral History Research Center at UNLV,

Richard Taylor, local historian who has written two books on the history of the Rouge.

Also, I will have a DVD presentation with rare and rarely seen photos of the Moulin Rouge on opening day.

Thursday, Oct. 1st

Las Vegas Springs Preserve

Desert Learning Center

6:30 pm

Admission $9 (note the new lower price!), (discount tickets available if you buy the next three months).

We hope to see you there!

 

 

 

Photos from the Jay Florian Mitchell collection, courtesy of the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas

 

Moulin Rouge Existing Buildings Demolished

 

                                Historic Moulin Rouge on fire as we type this.  Image courtesy of the Las Vegas Review Journal.


Latest Update:

 

The historic Moulin Rouge hotel and casino, destroyed by fire today, is already being torn down, a Las Vegas city spokesman said late this afternoon.

The cause of the fire is undetermined, said Jace Radke, spokesman for the city of Las Vegas.

"But it's a total loss," Radke said, referring to the 54-year-old landmark in the western Las Vegas Valley.

Las Vegas Fire Department investigators will begin a thorough examination of the smoldering ruins as soon as the building is safe, he said.

Bulldozers began this afternoon tearing down two-story apartments that had burned near the front of the hotel property, Radke said.

Firefighters from three area fire departments battled a four-alarm blaze for more than two hours at the historic Moulin Rouge hotel and casino.

 

UPDATE 3:20 pm:

After two hours of battling the fire at the historic Moulin Rouge property, firefighters have contained the blaze.  The alarm was sounded at 11:45 am and fire stations from the area responded.  The City of Las Vegas requested additional squads from the City of North Las Vegas and Clark County to help battle the four alarmer when nearby occupied apartment buildings were threatend.

No injuries were reported and firefighters did not find any one in the structure.

The four alarm fire was called not because of the intensity of the blaze but to help contain the fire from spreading past the historic property.  There are low-rent apartments in the adjoining area of the property on Bonanza Road.

From Mary Manning at the Las Vegas Sun:

"It's a hot day, and they need to rotate crews through there," Jace Radke, official fire spokesman, said.

Sixteen engines from the three fire departments responded to the fire, Radke said.

The fire occurred in part of the hotel that had been converted to apartment units, but was currently unoccupied.

From the Las Vegas Review Journal:

"Joyce Sheets, who works at Nevada Restaurant Services across the street from the Moulin Rogue, said she called 911 when colleagues came to her and said they saw smoke and a window explode from a building on the property.

Sheets said she was initially concerned firefighters might struggle to put out the blaze.

“There was lots of black smoke,” she said. “We were not that far away.”

 

Cause of the suspicious fire is still under investigation.

____________________________________________________________

Good thing they moved the wonderful neon sign last week.  Wasn't a moment too soon as the Moulin Rouge is burning as we speak.  According to Channel 13, the only local station with live coverage at the moment, it is a four alarm fire with many different stations responding.

The cause of the fire is still undetermined as firefighters continue to battle and try to contain the blaze.  It does appear from the news coverage that the main building wall where the sign was once perched is gone.

According to Mary Manning at the Las Vegas Sun, an abandoned apartment building behind the main building is also threatened.

An arson fire destroyed much of the main building and the complex in May of 2003.

The building was added to the Historic Registry in 1992.  It closed for business in 1997.  Preservation efforts were made over the next six years until the 2003 blaze destroyed the main building.  All that remained from that fire was the outer wall of the main building and Betty Willis' beautiful script sign.

The sign was moved to the Boneyard late last week.

From Mary Manning:

Although the Moulin Rouge had its heydey in the first year of operation, its historical significance in Las Vegas and to America's civil rights movement remains indelible, Las Vegas historians noted.

David Milman, a historian at the Nevada State Museum and Historical Society at Lorenzi Park, said the Moulin Rouge's importance was as "a beacon of initegration. Its lasting legacy was not the actual hotel, but rather the idea. Its existence guaranteed that things were going to change in racial policies in Las Vegas."

Once the Moulin Rouge was shuttered in 1997, the resort's 110 rooms were converted into low-rent apartment housing. The hotel is located in what has long been one of Las Vegas' poorest areas.

In the 1950s conditions were so bad in West Las Vegas some houses were mere shacks with no water, sewage system or electricity. Laws of the time prohibited blacks from living anywhere else in town.

The Moulin Rouge was the only hotel and casino in Las Vegas that allowed black patrons.

The resort was built for $7 million by Beverly Hills, Calif., real estate entrepreneur Alex Bisno and New York restaurateur Louis Rubin.

In March 1960 the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and community leaders met at the Moulin Rouge to broker a deal with white casino owners to end segregation practices on the Las Vegas Strip.

 

 

 Courtesy of the Las Vegas Sun

 

Moulin Rouge in 1955

 Life Magazine cover 1955, photo by Don English

 

Postcard of the historic Moulin Rouge with Betty's signage

 

Showgirls at the Moulin Rouge in 1955 include Anna Bailey and Dedee Jasmine

 

Interior pylon with ceramic tile now gone

Another interior pylon with light fixtures in the background, now gone

 

Interior pictures courtesy of Jack LeVine and VeryVintageVegas

Moulin Rouge may be coming back to life!

 

Moulin%20Rouge.jpg 

 

 

In all the hubbub of last week, we forgot to shine the spotlight on this very important news.

According to an article in the Las Vegas Review Journal , out-of-town investors have partnered with the local Moulin Rouge Development Corp. to revitalize the once-proud hotel/casino on Bonanza Road.

The Moulin Rouge, of course, was the first segregated hotel in Las Vegas and opened on the Westside in 1955.  It quickly became the 'in' spot with its dance troupe from the famed Cotton Club in New York and a nightly list of entertainment that kept the joint jumping until the early hours of the morning.  

Despite its seeming success, the hotel closed abruptly months later.  Despite many different efforts to re-open the fabled casino and showroom, for too many years the property sat empty and forlorn.  In 2003, work began on restoring the casino and the showroom.  Unfortunately, in 2004, an arson fire gutted all but the front wall and Betty Willis' iconic sign.

That serious money is being invested with a look towards rebuilding and restoring the Moulin Rouge is great news.  We hope this time it comes to pass.

To read the article, click here