Thunderbird (resort)
| El Rancho Hotel and Casino | |
|---|---|
| Location | Winchester, Nevada |
| Address | 2755 Las Vegas Blvd South |
| Opening date | September 2, 1948 |
| Closing date | July 6, 1992 |
| Theme | Western |
| No. of rooms | 1,000 |
| Total gaming space | 90,000 sq ft (8,400 m2) |
| Casino type | Land-based |
| Owner | Ed Torres |
| Architect | Marion Hicks |
| Previous names | Thunderbird Silverbird |
| Renovated in | 1964, 1976, 1982, 1987 |
| Coordinates | 36°8′15″N 115°9′32″W / 36.13750°N 115.15889°WCoordinates: 36°8′15″N 115°9′32″W / 36.13750°N 115.15889°W |
The El Rancho Hotel and Casino (formerly known as The Thunderbird and The Silverbird) was a hotel and casino that operated on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada from 1948 to 1992. After its closure, the El Rancho sat vacant for eight years while two companies made several attempts to reopen or replace the resort, which was eventually demolished in 2000, after a news report found the decrepit buildings to be in violation of health and safety regulations. The site later became part of the land used for the un-opened Fontainebleau Resort Las Vegas.
On September 2, 1948, the Thunderbird Hotel was the fourth resort to open on the Las Vegas Strip. The resort was built by developer Marion Hicks and owned by Lieutenant Governor of Nevada Clifford A. Jones. The resort had a Native American theme and featured portraits, a Navajo-based restaurant, the only bowling alley ever on the Strip, and a showroom. In 1955, articles surfaced in the Las Vegas Sun saying that Meyer Lansky and other underworld figures held hidden shares in the hotel.
In 1964, the casino was purchased by Del Webb for $10 million. He ran the resort until 1972, when he sold it to Caesars World, owner of Caesars Palace, for $13.6 million. A $150-million, 2,000-room resort called the Mark Anthony was planned for the site, but Caesars was unable to find financing, and sold the property four years later to banker E. Parry Thomas at a loss of $5.7 million. Thomas later sold it to Major Riddle, owner of the Dunes Hotel, who renamed the resort as the Silverbird in 1976.
The Thunderbird has the distinction of being the resort where singer Rosemary Clooney made her first appearance in Las Vegas in 1951, and where Judy Garland made her final Vegas appearance in 1965.
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