Galaxy Motel
Donated by Howard Klein
The Galaxy Motel opened on this property first. I have no information or close up pictures of it.
The Galaxy was replaced with a small strip mall which opened in 1970 containing Little Caesar's at 3665 Las Vegas Boulevard South. It was owned by Eugene Maday who also owned the Checker Cab Company. Little Caesar's was a small casino with six 21 tables, one Crap table, six cash pinball, 150 slot machines, and a gift shop.
"From its inception, the casino manager was Eddie Huffman, and Dick Sargent was its accountant. Huffman was also a partner in Griffith Investigations, a company that provided "Eye In The Sky" surveillance to many of the states' casinos. A virtual Who's Who of the Gaming Control Board's "Black Book", i.e., "Person Non Grata", would steadily stream into Little Caesar's to see Mr. Huffman. These individuals might have been unwelcome elsewhere, but at here they were employees of, or hoped to be employees of, Griffith Investigations. After all, who better to catch a cheat than a cheat!Employees of Maday's Check Cab Company used to pick up their paychecks at Little Caesar's casino cage. Many of these drivers ended up working for nothing. Most of the time the wives of these drivers appeared on payday to make sure that their spouses gave them the money!
Caesar's boasted a world class craps dealer who was graced with both the dexterity and the mind to deal the game as though it were an art form. He was a major draw for both players and spectators alike. In fact, many aspiring dealers about town would hang around the casino in hopes that a good game would develop so that they might watch this man in action. The general consensus from many old timers and "wise guys" was that this dealer was the best that they had ever seen. Rumor has it that he eventually left the state in search of a better life.
Caesar's was a favorite haven for many degenerate gamblers in Las Vegas. Among the dealers who worked at Caesar's, the place was referred to as "The Toilet". Little Caesar's was in fact a "dive" if there ever was one. One Saturday night, with its lone crap table filled to capacity and in the throes of a long run, one of the gentlemen players had to relieve himself. Faced with the dilemma, and not wanting to "jinx" the roll, this player relieved himself on the carpet. Hence - The Toilet.
Benny "The Bite" Shapiro was an all time degenerate gambler who graced Little Caesar's with many of his antics. A mild mannered gentleman away from the dice table, Benny would often explode in a tirade when the dice sevened-out. Once before a packed table, the shooter threw the dice to Benny's end of the table where they sevened-out. In a rage, Benny picked up the offending dice and failing to bite them in half, promptly hurled them out in the parking lot. Another sevened-out caused Benny to bite into the nalgahyde railing, came out with a mouthful and promptly spewed it on the table along with the appropriate expletives. Benny "The Bite" was royalty at Little Caesar's!" - Dan Kubota
"Directly across The Strip from the Dunes Hotel/Casino was a little slot and bookmaker casino..... (took any amount to be bet)..... Gene Mayday's "Little Caesar's". He also owned Checker Cab Co. He would advertise at all the stops along the highways to Las Vegas as did the other little casinos in the Ralph Petillo's "Panorama" and Dick McNeely's "Vegas Visitor" tabloids. He also had a give-a-way page in my then "Las Vegas Coupon Book" (which incidently was the first one and the forerunner of many to come) which I published for several years until all the casinos did it for themselves.One day he ordered to have me print-up one million $3.00 bills as a promotion coupon which stated 'With the purchase of one roll of nickels....... (nickels then, remember that?)..... you would 'GET ONE FREE ROLL OF NICKELS'. He would then flood the highway stops with them. He did get action from it ......... but, the story then begins to unfold.
Well, the day the heavy cartons were delivered, he looked at the sample and told me he couldn't take them and wasn't going to pay for them. We had spelled CEASAR'S incorrectly. It was clearly illuminated on his sign as CAESAR'S and he made that very clear.
Having to cover the costs of payroll and stock I panicked. We sat and had a drink at his bar both of us in dejection. He was a good friend. So we wept together. At about the second one in not too long a time a bulb went off in my mind. I said, 'Gene, you CAN take them with just a little change of wording in your present ads all over the town.... and at no additional cost to you.....and it will be better!! All you have to do is just add: 'ONE EXTRA FREE ROLL OF NICKELS TO ANYONE WHO CAN FIND SOMETHING WRONG WITH THIS $3.00 BILL'............... His bulb went on too!!
Smiling, he said, 'Sam, every time I talk to you, when something goes wrong you always make it sound right!..... I'll take them!" (an exact word quote) ............... and the waters parted for me.
Gene later became part owner of Valley Hospital with Milton Schwartz and our group played the music for all of their functions throughout the years.
With his Checker Cab Co. he was one of the first to purchase those room-sized computers with the bulky punchcards to keep books, payroll.. etc. controlled with all he had going. My Dad, Luke, used to drive a cab for him. Gene proudly took me to see it. As we were marveling, Gene said, "You see all this expensive equipment? Well, for me to track and log all my cab drivers' daily cash turned in....... I don't really need this big contraption. All I have to do is see what your dad's weekly cash turn-in is and I know what the rest should be reporting to me. Your Dad is as punctual a clock and turns in the most of any cab driver I've ever hired. He's my computer. He even turned in some women's purse before his shift was over losing fare time for himself containing over $4000.00 in cash. When she called in we had the purse waiting for her. Luke was called in to come back in to and get it and deliver it to her "....... Did I ever feel proud. Dad was rewarded $100.00 by the women...... Dad's real reward was in doing it, as he commented." - Sam Melchionne, October 2003
In the early 1980s, Little Caesar's received a sports book license. With its aptly named "Hole in the Wall" sports book and an ad in all of the local trades as well as its "Midnight Madness" one-half point come on for football wagers on Friday and Saturday nights, Caesar's was a favorite for all of the wise guys. Though small in size, the book did tremendous collar volume.
In 1985, Little Caesars' sport book was managed by Gene Maday.
In 1989, Caesar's booked Bob Stupak's one million dollar bet on the Super Bowl, for which the "Polish Maverick" collected. In a tribute to Maday for booking the bet, Stupak presented him with a custom made one-man automobile, which sat outside in the front parking lot until Little Caesar's closed.
With the death of Maday, the entire mall property was sold in the 1990s. In May/June of 1995, Bally Chairman Arthur Goldberg announced a new project to be built on the property known as Bally's Paris/Paris Casino Resort. Plans called for a 50 story replica of the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees, Paris Opera House, Parc Monceau, and the River Seine.
The plans for the $420 million Paris, called for 2,500 hotel rooms on the property immediately south of Bally's with its 2,800 rooms, have been developed by a group of architects led by Joel Bergman who was previously responsible for The Mirage and Treasure Island.
"What we are going to create is an entertainment experience. It will be more than a casino. Paris will become a total entertainment environment." - Joel Bergman
In late 1996, 67 year old Line Renaud, the legendary French singer and dancer who headlined the Dunes Hotel's Casino de Paris show in the 1960s, became the proposed Paris Hotel-Casinos' official ambassador to France. Paul Busateri, executive vice president of Paris, welcomed Renaud during a cocktail party at Bally's which was building Paris next door. She acted as Bally's goodwill ambassdaor to her country. Renaud was joined by several stagehands, cast members and showgirls who performed with her at the Dunes from 1963-1965 and 1967-1969. In a suprirse visit, her 20 year old godchild, Michelle Hrushowy, showed up dressed in her shogirl costume. She performed in Bally's Jubilee.
On April 17, 1997, ground breaking occurred for the new resort which would be the sister resort of Bally's.
Paris model displayed at Bally's June of 1999
By May of 1999, over 200,000 people called inquiring about job openings at the resort. More than 1,000 applicants interviewed during the job-a-thon and 7,000 more were interviewed earlier.
The $785 million, 2,916 room/295 suite, French themed resort Paris Las Vegas opened on September 1, 1999, at 10:00pm, after a fireworks show displayed from the 540 foot Eiffel Tower. French actress Catherine Deneuve flipped the switch turning on the lights illuminating the tower. An estimated 35,000 people entered Paris after a private party of 4,000 VIPs were treated to free food and drink before the fireworks.
At the opening was French film star Line Renaud, composer Michael LeGrand, Donald Trump, Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, and New Jersey Congressman Frank LoBiondo.
The main hotel tower is fashioned after the famous Hotel DeVille in Paris. The resort employs 4,200 people.
An estimated 2,000 rooms were filled on opening night but all the rooms were filled for the Labor Day Weekend.
Paris contains replicas of the Paris Opera House, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre and the Rue de la Paix shopping district, complete with cobblestone streets and quaint cafes, restaurants and retail shops, one of which is La Boulangerie. This working French bakery supplies the resort's fresh-baked breads to the other Paris restaurants, delivered throughout the day by a costumed bicycle rider fluent in French.
Nearby is Le Village Buffet, which offers recreations of a town village and homes from the five different provinces of France, each with classic cuisine from those regions made to customer order. Other restaurants include Le Provence, offering Italian-style fare with a French flair; Brasserie, a restaurant-bar offering the only outdoor seating on the Strip; and La Rotisserie, a two-level restaurant featuring slow roasted meat, fish and poultry. Two cafes, one by the pool three stories above the Strip, will offer lighter dining.
The resort also features five lounges, including live entertainment in Napoleon's Retreat and the Le Cabaret. The passage to Paris' convention facilities features a replica of the Versailles Hall of Mirrors.
The casino is 85,000-square-feet with a 40-foot ceiling painting of the Parisian sky. The casino contains 100 table games, a race and sports book, over 2,200 slot machines, and high limit slots.
Paris' ballrooms and salons, coupled with those of Bally's, gives the complex 315,000 square feet of meeting space, any or all of which can be booked through a single sales department.
The rooms include pay-per-view movies, on-command video, cable television, two-line phones, voicemail, and a dataport at desk height. The bathrooms include separate shower and bathtub, iron and ironing board, full-length and make-up mirrors, and an in-room safe.
Donated by Tony Zaffie
The English version of the musical "Notre Dame de Paris" (Hunchback of Notre Dame), opened in January, 2000, in the 1,200 seat theater. The Hunchback of Notre Dame had been playing for standing-room-only crowds in France and Canada.
French singer and composer Richard Socciante and Canadian lyricist Luc Plamondon collaborated on the musical about the deformed cathedral bellringer Quasimodo, the Gypsy girl Esmeralda and the Archdeacon Claude Frollo, who murders Esmeralda's husband and frames her for the crime.
American songwriter Will Jennings, who wrote My Heart Will Go On for the movie Titanic, wrote the English lyrics for the production.
On September 2, 1999, an employee of Pyro Spectaculars Rialto, California, fell from the Eiffel Tower a few hours after the fireworks show and sustained a broken thigh bone.
In October of 1999, Paris has a role in the short lived TV show The Strip.
During this year Paris Theatre showcased Isabelle Boulay, and Patricia Kaas.
On September 14, 2001, at 7:45pm, Park Place turned off all non-essential exterior lights at its 20 U.S. casinos at sunset, and has invited its seven international casinos to do the same in observance of the national day of remembrance in honor of the victims of the terrorist strikes in New York and Washington on September 11, 2001. The lights remained off until sunrise.
On the Strip, lights will be extinguished at Caesars Palace, Bally's Las Vegas, Paris Las Vegas, Las Vegas Hilton and Flamingo Las Vegas.
"The lights of Las Vegas have always stood for happy times." It's important that they're off (tonight)." - Debbie Munch, Park Place spokeswoman
Park Place properties in Las Vegas have been displaying "One Nation Under God" on their digital marquees for several days.
In addition, on September 14, 2001 Bally's held a 10-minute, non-denominational memorial services at 10:00am, which was open to employees, hotel guests and the public. Paris' employees were permitted to observe a moment of silence at 10:00am.
On September 19, 2001 Park Entertainment stated the New York State's World Trade Center Disaster Relief Fund and the New York Firefighters 9-11 Relief Fund will each receive a $500,000 donation.
In 2001, Le Theatre des Arts showcased Tony Bennett (12/29-31), Clint Black (10/26-27, 12/11-13), Natalie Cole (2/2-4 & 8/3-5, 12/14-16), Earth, Wind & Fire (6/7-10), Julio Iglesias (10/17-21), Kevin James (5/4-6, 11/30-12/2), Al Jarreau (11/16-17), Legends of Motown (11/22-25), Howie Mandel (5/25-27 & 8/31-9/2), Brian McKnight (11/2-3), Dennis Miller (4/27-28), Jay Mohr (11/9-11), Moody Blues (4/5-8), Lou Rawls & Nancy Wilson (5/12-13), Sinbad (8/17-19), Temptations/Marvelettes/Martha Reeves (11/22-24), Bobby Vinton (3/9-10), Vanessa Williams (1/19-21), Steven Wright (10/5-7), and Dwight Yoakum (12/7-9).
In January, 2002, Paris advertised her Le Village Buffet. This buffet contains the cooking styles of Alsace, Brittany, Provence, Burgundy, and Normandy.
In April 2002, Paris stated that the resort sits on approximately 24 acres of land. She features 2,916 gues rooms, and 85,000 square foot casino, eight French-inspired restaurants, five lounges, 120,000 square feet of meeting and convention space, 31,000 square feet of retail space, a two-acre pool and a European health spa. The resort contains approximately 1,756 slot machines, and 96 table games.
In May 2002 - Casino operators reached contract agreements with the union representing waitresses and housekeepers, virtually eliminating the prospect of a strike. The latest agreements between the Culinary Workers Union and the casinos were reached with Mandalay Resort Group, MGM Mirage, Park Place, Aztar Corp., and Harrah's. The new agreements cover about three-quarters of the 40,000 cooks, waitresses and housekeepers the union represents in Las Vegas. Under the new tentative contracts, workers will receive anaverage of $3.24 in increased hourly wages and benefits over the new contract's five-year life. Much of that will go to pay for higher health insurance costs, which workers will continue to receive free of charge.
In 2002, Le Theatre des Arts showcased Tony Bennett (5/9-12); Natalie Cole (4/18-21, 8/1-4); Everlast Heavyweight Explosion (3/29), Peter Frampton (6/28-29); Gigi presented by the Nevada Opera Theatre (6/8-9), Al Green (8/10-11), Patti LaBelle (2/6-9); Legends of Motown featuring Temptations/Marvelettes (7/18-21); George Lopez (5/5), Howie Mandel (3/8-10; 6/14-16), Jay Mohr (5/24-27), Moody Blues (3/21-24); Kevin Pollack/David Brenner (6/19-23); and Lou Rawls/Nancy Wilson (4/6-7; 4/14).
Le Cabaret Show Lounge showcased entertainment nightly.
Paris Theatre Des Arts will be showcasing Andre-Philippe-Gagnon (5/11-14, 19-22, 27-29); Olivia Newton-John (5/15-18); Tony Bennett (5/23-26); Jeff Foxworthy (5/30-6/1); (6/2-4, 13-16, 19, 22-25, 6/30-7/3); Sinbad (6/5-8); Golden Rainbow (6/7-8); Al Green (6/20-21); Clint Black (6/26-28); Wayne Brady (7/4-6); Andre Philippe-Gagnon (7/7-10, 17-19).
In 2003, Le Cabaret Lounge will be showcasing entertainment nightly.
 Dennis Vogt |
