Moulin Rouge Hotel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Moulin Rouge Hotel was a hotel and casino located in west Las Vegas, Nevada that is listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places. The Moulin Rouge was the first desegregated hotel casino and was popular with many of the black entertainers of the time who would entertain at the other hotels and casinos and stay here.

[edit] History

Costing $3.5 million, the Moulin Rouge opened on May 24, 1955, and was the first integrated hotel/casino in Las Vegas if not the nation. Until that time most all of The Strip casinos were totally segregated, off-limits to blacks unless they were the entertainment or labor force.

The hotel was located in west Las Vegas where segregation forced the black population to live. West Las Vegas was bounded by:

In the North by Washington Avenue;
In the South by Bonanza Road;
In the West by H Street;
In the East by A Street

It was during this era that a caucasian man by the name of Will Max Schwartz saw the need for an integrated hotel. Will, along with other investors (including boxing-great Joe Louis), built and opened the Moulin Rouge at 900 W. Bonanza Road.. This placed it comfortably in a prime location between the predominately white area of the strip and the largely black west side. The complex itself was two stuccoed buildings that contained the hotel, casino, and a theater. The exterior had the hotel's name in stylized cursive writing, and murals depicting dancing and fancy cars.

When it opened, the Moulin Rouge was fully integrated top to bottom from employees to patrons to entertainers.

Cover of Life Magazine

The popularity of the Moulin Rouge blew up almost overnight. The hotel made the June 20th, 1955 cover of Life magazine, with a photo of two female showgirls. A veritable A-List of 50-60's era performers regularly showed to party until dawn. Great black singers and musicians such as Sammy Davis, Jr., Nat King Cole, Pearl Bailey, and Louis Armstrong would perform often. These men were banned from gambling or staying at the hotels on the strip. In addition, white performers including George Burns, Jack Benny, and Frank Sinatra would drop in after their shows to gamble and perform. Eventually management added a 2:30am Third Show to accommodate the popularity and crowds.

In November of 1955 the Moulin Rouge closed its doors. Some say it was a victim of a casino oversaturation (the Moulin Rouge was one of 4 new hotels that ran into major financial issues that year). Some say it was poor management. The exact cause will probably never be known. By December 1955, the Moulin Rouge had declared bankruptcy.

The short but brief life of the Moulin Rouge helped the civil-rights movement in Las Vegas. Many of those who enjoyed and were employed by the hotel became activists and supporters. The hotel was also the spark needed to bring an end to segregation on the strip.

For a while the hotel was owned by the first African American woman to hold a Nevada Gaming License, Sarann Knight-Preddy.

Under threat of a protest down the Las Vegas Strip against racial discrimination from Las Vegas casinos, a meeting was hurriedly arranged by then-Governor Grant Sawyer between hotel owners, city and state officials; local black leaders and then-NAACP president Dr. James McMillan. The meeting was held on March 26, 1960 at the closed Moulin Rouge, and lead to an agreement to desegregate all strip casinos. Hank Greenspun, who would become an important media figure in the town, mediated the agreement.

In 1992 the building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Shuttered for decades, many plans had been hatched to rebuild and reopen the cultural landmark. However on May 29, 2003 a fire ripped through the buildings, almost entirely gutting the complex. No witnesses have ever been found, no one has come forward with information leading to the cause of the fire, and to this day all that remains is the front visage with its signature stylized name.

February 2004 saw the Moulin Rouge sold again for $12.1 million to the Moulin Rouge Development Corporation. The stylized Moulin Rouge neon sign was turned back on. A $200 million renovation of the site was announced but was never completed.