Huntridge Theater goes to Planning Commission

A friendly reminder from Jack LeVine over at VeryVintageVegas that the Huntridge Theater Redevelopment goes before the Planning Commission this evening.  If you love this theater and are in favor of the re-adaptive use plans please attend and voice your support:

We’re hoping for a big turnout of supporters for the adaptive re-use plan that will be presented to the City of Las Vegas Planning Commission Tomorrow Evening.

The meeting will be at 6pm in the City Council Chambers at 400 E. Stewart.

The Save The Huntridge committee is endorsing the plan. We certainly recognize that there are those of you who hoped that the building could remain a theater, but it’s just not possible.

We’ve gladly compromised to allow that at least the building, and the name marquee and the tower will be saved. Under the current economic conditions, and the enormous competition that exists in Las Vegas with the abundance of casino owned venues, it just isn’t possible to keep it as a theater.

The plan should foster a new life for the corner of Charleston and Maryland Parkway. Most everyone I have spoken with is excited about this renovation and we have an opportunity to go before the City in support of this project. If you can attend, we’d be happy to see you there.

Fabulous Las Vegas Sign soon to be 50!

Our good friend Betty Willis had no idea when she designed the "little sign" almost 50 years ago that it would become such an endearing icon.

From our friend Kristen Petersen at the Las Vegas Sun:

Tourists from all over the world pose for photos under the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign.

The iconic image of mid-20th century Las Vegas, designed to greet visitors driving into town from California, has been reproduced on, well, nearly everything.

It turns 50 next year.

To show that it has become far more than a clever marketing tool, Clark County officials are working to have the sign listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The mostly honorary title would link it to other listed relics and sites in Clark County, including Hoover Dam, the Huntridge Theatre, the Spanish Trail and the Las Vegas Mormon Fort.

The listing wouldn’t protect the sign, which is owned by Young Electric Sign Co., but it would bring attention to one of the city’s greatest cultural heritages: neon.

“It’s a good way to make people aware of historic resources in this town, especially signs, which are so few and so precious,” says Dorothy Wright, program administrator for the county’s parks and recreation department, who is heading the project.

In some cases, she says, they are the only physical evidence of our past.

Wright says paperwork for the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign, designed in 1959 by Betty Willis, will be submitted next month to the State Historic Preservation Office.

Staff members at that office will look over the submission, then send it to the National Park Service, which oversees the program that recognizes sites, structures and other elements of historical, architectural, archaeological or cultural significance.

“It certainly has national, if not international significance,” Wright says of the sign.

Owners of structures listed as national historic sites are not required to preserve them. Green Shack — the area’s oldest restaurant when it closed in 1999 — was listed when it was demolished. Moulin Rouge, also listed, was never restored and preserved.

Young Electric Sign, however, ardently maintains the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign, and the county is building a small parking lot on the median to allow for safer photo shoots.

Entertainers of Classic Las Vegas

The Nevada State Museum , Las Vegas and Friends of Classic Las Vegas will host an evening reception and panel discussion with noted entertainer Betty Bunch and several of her Friends from the Golden Age of Las Vegas entertainment in the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s.

Betty came to Las Vegas in the 1950s to dance in the opening line for Donald O’Connor, and later performed at such venues as the El Rancho Vegas, the Dunes, and the Rivera. Betty also headlined the original production of the popular afternoon show, Bottoms Up. Betty and her fellow entertainers promise an evening filled with intimate tales of Las Vegas show business and personalities, as well as many “stories behind the stories.”

The Entertainers of Classic Las Vegas Panel will include:

Betty Bunch, long-time dancer on the Las Vegas Strip

Louis Prima, Jr will talk about his father and the Prima legacy

Papote will talk about the Latin influence on the Las Vegas Strip

Mike Weatherford, Las Vegas Review Journal columnist, Entertainer Writer and author of "Cult Vegas"

and Special Guests

Wednesday, Sept. 17th

Nevada State Museum

700 Twin Lakes Dr

Lorenzi Park

6:00 - 7:00 pm Reception

7:00 - 8:30 pm Discussion

Admission $3

We hope to see you there!

Las Vegas: A Pictorial Look Back

Continuing our walk down Memory Lane:

Here is a row of houses in early Las Vegas.  The idea that no one lived here is just a myth.  People came to Las Vegas for the land auction in May, 1905 and began carving a community out of the harsh desert almost immediately.

The Las Vegas Grammar School.  The cornerstone was laid in 1910 and the school opened in 1911.  Students from across the Valley were invited to attend.  The school burned down in 1935 and was rebuilt as a sturdier structure that is currently being restored by the City of Las Vegas.

Before Vegas Vic became the iconic neon sign on Fremont Street a similar image was used by the
Chamber of Commerce and businesses around town to promote the city.  Here is a postcard from the
Old West Motel on South Fifth Street.  Today Fifth Street is better known as Las Vegas Blvd. South.

Special thanks to the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas for letting us use these images.