frontier hotel and casino las vegas sold for $1.2 billion in 2007 - by Kiki

Frontier Hotel and Casino Las Vegas

Frontier Hotel and Casino Las Vegas was imploded on November 13, 2007. It was located on the Strip just north of the Fashion Show Mall and the Wynn hotel and casino. It was the second casino to open on the Boulevard and operated continuously since its doors opened on October 30, 1942.

Like many casinos in Vegas, new resorts are built on the ruins and history of older resorts. Its demolition is making way for a new casino modeled after the Plaza Hotel in New York City and will be called the "Las Vegas Plaza." Its new owner, El-Ad Properties, purchased the Frontier for about $1.2 billion, that's about $33 million an acre.

Back in the day, the Frontier Hotel and Casino Las Vegas started out as a nightclub called Pair-O-Dice in 1930, the Ambassador Night Club in 1936, the '91 Club' in 1939 and the Last Frontier in 1942. After renovations in 1955, it was renamed the New Frontier.

The New Frontier exchanged hands several times. Billionaire Howard Hughes bought it in 1967 for $14 million and shortened its name to just the Frontier. In 1990 a Tower Atrium Tower was built, but was later demolished in 1997. In 1998, developer Phil Ruffin purchased it for $165 million and renamed it the New Frontier. Phil sold it to El-Ad in May 2007. In partnership with Ruffin, Donald Trump built the "Trump International Hotel and Tower" behind the Frontier. Trump is a high-rise, luxury condominium hotel.

Frontier had a Western theme with its main attraction being Gilley's mechanical bull. Its claim to fame was hosting the first Elvis appearance in Las Vegas in 1956 and the last concert of Diana Ross with the Supremes in 1970. It had 3 restaurants: Gilley's, Margarita's Cantina and Phil's Steakhouse. It had 986 rooms and 100,000 square feet of gaming area. It did not house any permanent shows.

The Frontier Hotel and Casino Las Vegas had over 1,000 employees and is remembered as having the longest strike by the Culinary Workers Union ever from September 21, 1991 to February 1, 1998. The strike ended when Phil Ruffin bought it.

During the strike several hotels were imploded, including the Sands, now the Venetian, the Dunes, now the Bellagio, the Landmark, now a parking lot for the Las Vegas Convention Center, and the Hacienda, now the Mandalay Bay. According to the Las Vegas Sun, over 21,000 rooms were built on the Strip during the strike and 106 babies were born to mothers in the Culinary Workers Union who had walked the picket line. There was plenty of history making in the Frontier Hotel and Casino Las Vegas.