A local judge has approved Clark County’s bid for the 15-acre site of the historic Moulin Rouge in Las Vegas, dashing hopes that gaming would one day return to the place where the city’s first desegregated casino hotel had a brief moment in the sun more than 60 years ago.
District Court Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez approved the sale to the county for $6.2 million plus $2 million to demolish what’s left of the historic eyesore, which is on the National Register of Historic Places but has been ravaged by vandalism, squatters and a series of fires.
White investors opened the original Moulin Rouge in May 1955 in historically black West Las Vegas in an era when black entertainers could perform at Strip hotels but could not gamble or sleep in them. Many of the biggest stars of the day, black and white, flocked to the venue, which featured a showroom and a 110-room hotel. It even made a cover of Life magazine. But it ran into financial difficulties and closed later the same year.
Numerous plans to redevelop it have been floated over the decades but to date have come to nothing. The current property has been in receivership for three years. After officially being declared a safety hazard it was hit by fire again this month, prompting the city to level one of its remaining structures.
The county wasn’t the highest bidder, but it “has the highest probability of actually closing on the sale,” according to receiver Kevin Hanchett, who had urged Gonzalez to back the bid. Three other bidding groups said they planned to revive the site as a casino hotel. One also wanted to add an African American history museum. The high bidder at $8 million was Las Vegas Moulin Rouge LLC, which also was behind several previous offers, but it was “unable to make earnest money deposits or meet deadlines,” according to court documents.
Others have questioned Gonzalez’s decision, among them former Nevada Assemblyman Harvey Munford, who has for years been pushing for revitalization of the Moulin Rouge and the surrounding neighborhood. He said he was “devastated” and “bewildered” when he learned the county won the bidding.
“The county has land all over the place,” he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Why would they pick the Moulin Rouge when they know it’s a historic site? You’re basically destroying the legacy.”
Pending approval of the purchase by the Clark County Commission, the site will become home to administrative offices of the Department of Family Services. The approval for demolition does, however, require that some of the historic elements?the original foundation, mosaic tile columns and some signage?be preserved.
The original Moulin Rouge sign, designed by Betty Willis, creator of the Strip’s iconic “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign, is housed in the city’s Neon Museum.
