Stardust Casino
One historic icon that no longer graces the Las Vegas skyline is the Stardust Casino. Recently demolished, the Stardust Casino was once the standard by which Vegas casinos were measured.

In July of 1958 the Stardust opened, and with its 1,065 rooms it was the world’s largest hotel at the time. Only costing $6 to stay the night, it catered to the middle class with its affordable fares. 20 years later, the fancier hotels began to spring up along the Strip, and the Stardust Casino was no longer the place to be.

The Stardust Casino had a varied past. In the 1995 movie “Casino”, the Stardust Casino was featured for its 1970s gangster connections when the place was run by Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal. The people from that time remember a different Vegas, from a time where they knew everyone by name and the town ran with gang-like efficiency.

During its glory days, the Stardust Casino also hosted such visitors as Elvis Presley and Jim Brown. Even Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin have dined after hours there at the Moby Dick Restaurant courtesy of the chef at the time, Frank Perkins.

In the 1980s, the law stepped in. Nevada gaming regulators started cracking down on skimming from the Stardust Casino cages. In 1983 Boyd came to operate the casino, and he bought it in 1985 when the mob lost its gaming license.

The Mirage came in 1989, leading an explosion of high class resorts and casinos up and down the Strip. The Stardust Casino’s days were becoming numbered. The newer hotels could offer newer and better amenities than the Stardust Casino could, leaving the owner with few options except to start over.

Other signs pointed to the casino’s demise. Wayne Newton signed on in 2000 to become the headline performer, and company started marketing to the nostalgic crowd that remembered Las Vegas from yesteryear. But even his romantic crooning could not fill the rooms.

Now that the Stardust Casino is nothing more than dust, plans can move forward for the new Boyd Gaming Corp. Casino – the $4 billion Echelon Place resort. Expected to open sometime in 2010, it will offer 5 times as many rooms, two theaters, a shopping mall, and meeting rooms.

The memories from the Stardust Casino will never be lost, nor will the memorabilia. An auction sent the equipment, photos, and other keepsakes to new homes, and the famous sign has a new home at the Neon Museum, where it will be restored to its former glory.