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08/11/08 12:29:43
1942 Opened - 3120 Las Vegas Blvd. S
1942 91 Club incorporated into New Frontier structure
1951 Sold to Jacob Kozloff and Beldon Katleman
1955 Opened Under New Name "New Frontier"
1965 Razed, Replaced By Frontier
1967 Bought by Howard Hughes for $14 million
1998 Opened under New Name "New Frontier"
May 2007 Phil Ruffin sold the 34.5-acre property for $1.2 billion to New York-based El-Ad Group.
2007 Closed to make room for a new El-Ad Group project.
Articles from the Las Vegas ReviewJournal and Las Vegas Sun open in new windows.
July 29, 2007:
JOHN L. SMITH:
Frontier helped Robert Goulet make a name for himself on the Strip
July 24, 2007:
Take Five: The New Frontier Sign
So what happens now?
July 16, 2007:
LAS VEGAS PIONEER: Frontier's days end
Hotel property grew from 1942 opening on now famous Strip
July 15, 2007:
NORM: New Frontier offers pieces of the past
July 14, 2007:
No fanfare as New Frontier closes
Rat Pack tribute band to help mark shuttering of venue opened in 1942
July 10, 2007:
New goodwill at the New Frontier
Owner changes course, announces severance pay as casino prepares to close
June 27, 2007:
They'll be jobless - should tycoon share?
Obligations depend on morals or a union contract
May 17, 2007:
Workers wistful knowing casino's end is near
May 16, 2007:
MORE THAN $1.2 BILLION: New Frontier sale sets record
Purchase price goes where no Strip land has gone before
History:
The property started as a nightclub called Pair O’Dice (1930-1936)and
renamed 91 Club (1939-1940). It was subsequently rebuilt and renamed the "Hotel Last
Frontier" in 1942.
Griffith's
Hotel Last Frontier opened with William J Moore as Manager. Where El Rancho
rambled like a motor court, the Last Frontier was a single sprawling
building with a reported 3,700 trees, plants, and shrubs planted on the
property. Several distinct but connected segments gave the appearance of
a main street from an Old Western town. The Carrillo Room named for
actor Leo Carrillo, the Cisco Kid's sidekick, was the octagonal tower
that had been part of the 91 Club.
 In this room hung a large picture of
Carrillo astride his horse. Griffith and Moore purchased many items from
existing downtown casinos, such as an antique 40 foot mahogany bar with
French beveled glass from the Arizona Club on Fremont Street which once
housed Las Vegas' most fashionable house of prostitution. On April 4, 1955, it was renamed the "New Frontier," following
a modernization of the resort.
On September 22, 1967, the resort was purchased for about $14 million by the billionaire
Howard Hughes, who then shortened its name to "The Frontier". Mr. Hughes purchased the
resort from the previous owners, which had also included Steve Wynn in one of his early
ventures when he first moved to Las Vegas. In 1999, the name was changed back to The New Frontier.
The resort has the distinction of hosting Elvis Presley's first Vegas appearance in 1956,
and the final performance of Diana Ross & The Supremes on January 14, 1970.
Culinary Workers Union Strike:
From September 21, 1991 until February 1, 1998 members of the Culinary Workers Union Local
226 in Las Vegas staged a strike against the New Frontier and the Elardis. A settlement
was reached on October 28, 1997 when Ruffin announced he would purchase the New Frontier
from the Elardis for $165 million dollars. The strike ended when Ruffin officially took possession.
Redevelopment Plans:
Billionaire developer Phil Ruffin bought the resort in 1998
from embattled owner Margaret Elardi and her two sons. In 2000, Ruffin announced plans
to raze the current facility and replace it with a
mega resort with a San Francisco theme, but high interest rates and the attacks of
September 11, 2001 scuttled those plans. In March 2005, with Las Vegas' fortunes on
the rise, Ruffin announced new plans to demolish the current facility and replace
it with a new resort with 3,000 rooms. With massive new development taking place
on the Strip adjacent to the hotel, the not-so-New Frontier's days are almost certainly numbered.
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