SEARCH NEWS:

 

Sands Celebrates 50th

LAS VEGAS -- Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Sands, the legendary Strip casino imploded to make way for Sheldon Adelson's The Venetian.

The Venetian plans no ceremonies to commemorate its forerunner, a hotel-casino Las Vegas historian Frank Wright said is most significant as the Strip home of the Rat Pack, the Frank Sinatra-led group of entertainers who reveled in their shows, booze and women.

"The Sands was the most glamorous property in Las Vegas for a time," Wright said.

But like other Strip landmarks destined to be replaced by new megaresorts, the Sands was imploded on Nov. 26, 1996.

"I remember the Sands marquee before the implosion," recalled The Venetian's Kurt Ouchida, director of communications. "The marquee said Dec. 15, 1952-Nov. 26, 1996."

The Sands was financed by "a virtual army of investors," wrote Eugene Moehring in his "Resort City in the Sunbelt." Several of the initial investors were denied gaming licenses by the state's former regulatory body, the tax commission, including Texas oilman, gambler and hotelier Jake Freedman.

Sinatra and Rat Packer Dean Martin bought small shares in the property.

The opening night act at the Sands' Copa Room was Danny Thomas, and the property's entertainment director, Jack Entratter, signed a number of then-big name performers to draw high rollers.

A 17-story cylindrical tower was added in 1968, when the reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes owned the property.

Hughes announced plans for a "new Sands," a 4,000-room megaresort, but didn't follow through.

Comdex convention creator Adelson bought the Sands in 1988. His convention center still bears the Sands name.

When he imploded the Sands to make way for his megaresort, Adelson told the Review-Journal that he was sad to see the property go.

"But life goes on," Adelson said. "We're anxious to move on to the next level."

Among the performers who entertained at the Sands during its 43-plus years were Sinatra, Martin and fellow Rat Packers Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop.

Singers Nat King Cole, Wayne Newton, Louis Armstrong, Tony Bennett and Johnny Mathis appeared, as did comedians Milton Berle and Bob Newhart.

The beautiful Copa Girls dazzled crowds with sexy-for-the-time outfits, and the Garden Room Restaurant gave coffee-shop diners a beautiful view through glass walls of the Sands' pool and grounds.

But memories are all that remain of the Sands, and even those will disappear, Wright said.

"There's not much memory left," Wright said. "Something new goes up, and something newer goes up tomorrow."

< Gaming News