LANDMARK
Casinos come and go leaving behind a rich history of showbusiness.
Casinos come and go leaving behind a rich history of showbusiness.
No one can state precisely when construction began on The Landmark. It was originally intended to be the tallest building in Nevada while construction of the nearby International Hotel (Las Vegas Hilton) and the downtown Mint Hotel proceeded with the identical goal.
In 1962, with the building only 80% complete, the main lending institution capped its investment at $3 million and construction stopped. The partially finished structure sat until 1968 when Howard Hughes bought the leaning tower of Las Vegas and completed the project. The unfinished structure appeared to be leaning because the utility poles surrounding it were placed at an angle giving the casual observer the sense that the 346 ft tall building was leaning.
When The Landmark finally opened in July 1969 the grand opening was hosted by Danny Thomas and Jimmy Durante. The orchestra for the grand opening was conducted by Ray Sinatra.
Interestingly, the Landmark had two fully equipped casinos one at ground level and another in the glass walled flying saucer located 300 ft in the air.
The Landmark Theater heralded the stars of the day; Charlie Callas, The Everly Brothers, Trini Lopez, Nipsy Russell, Joey Villa, and Dinah Shore. Also appearing were the Kay Starr Trio, Ray Sinatra's Orchestra, Jimmy Dean, and Bobbi Gentry.
The early entertainment director was Dwayne Hickman, TV's Dobie Gilles.
The Landmark showroom was a 500 seat theater that was unprecedented in the mix of entertainment offered. There were also two lounges in the hotel; The Nighthawk Lounge at casino level and the aptly named Sky Lounge in the upper section.
The Landmark Tower was built to rotate and according to legend it did rotate, once. It never did again. The Landmark was imploded in 1995 to make way for more parking for the Las Vegas Convention Center.
If you have any information about the history of entertainment at this property please do contact us, we aim to update this section of the site as frequently as possible so that we can ensure as accurate as possible correct historic information.
