Stardust Casino Implosion
- Where Was The Stardust Located
- Stardust Casino Las Vegas Memorabilia
- Old Stardust Hotel In Vegas
- Stardust Hotel&casino Implosion
The rubble of the former Stardust Hotel is seen following its implosion on the Las Vegas Strip on March 13, 2007. The property opened July 2, 1958, billing itself as the world's largest resort. LAS VEGAS — The venerable Stardust hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip was imploded early today in a hail of fireworks to make way for Boyd Gaming Corp.’s $4.4 billion megaresort Echelon. The Stardust opened July 2, 1958, as the world's largest hotel and catered to middle America with $6-a-night rooms and low-minimum stakes gambling. But as bigger, classier casinos sprung up around it in the late 1980s and '90s and patrons began shelling out more for.
| Born | August 18, 1899 Lequio Tanaro, Piedmont, Italy |
|---|---|
| Died | July 31, 1955 (aged 55) |
Anthony Cornero Stralla also known as 'the Admiral' and 'Tony the Hat' (August 18, 1899 - July 31, 1955) was a bootlegger and gambling entrepreneur in Southern California from the 1920s through the 1950s. During his varied career, he bootlegged liquor into Los Angeles, ran legal gambling ships in international waters, and legally operated casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Life and career[edit]
Early life[edit]
Antonio Cornero was born in Lequio Tanaro, Province of Cuneo, in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy. Cornero and his family immigrated to the United States after his father lost the farm in a card game and a fire destroyed their harvest. Cornero's father died a few years later and his mother married Luigi Stralla, a former suitor from Italy. After their arrival in San Francisco, Cornero used the aliases Tony Cornero and Tony Stralla as he signed on to merchant ships bound for the Far East.
Prohibition[edit]
In 1923, with Prohibition in effect, Cornero became a rum-runner. His clientele included many high-class customers and night clubs.
Using a shrimping business as a cover, Cornero started smuggling Canadian whiskey into Southern California with his small fleet of freighters. One of Cornero's ships, the SS Lily, could transport up to 4,000 cases of bootleg liquor in a single trip. Cornero would unload the liquor beyond the three-mile limit into his speedboats, which would bring it to the Southern California beaches. His fleet easily evaded the understaffed and ill-equipped U.S. Coast Guard. By the time Cornero turned 25, he had become a millionaire.
However, in 1926 the law caught up with Cornero. Returning from Guaymas, Mexico, with an estimated 1,000 cases of rum, he was intercepted and arrested. Sentenced to two years imprisonment, he jokingly told reporters he'd only purchased the illegal cargo 'to keep 120 million people from being poisoned to death'. While being transported by rail to prison, Cornero escaped from his guards and jumped off the train. Cornero boarded a ship for Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and fled the U.S. Eventually reaching Europe, he spent several years there in hiding. In 1929, he returned to Los Angeles and turned himself in.
In 1931, shortly after his release from prison, Cornero established the Ken Tar Insulation Company. However, federal authorities soon discovered it was a cover for a large scale bootlegging operation and raided it. Cornero then moved his operations to a location in Culver City, California. Soon he was producing up to 5,000 gallons of alcohol a day. Federal authorities raided the Culver City site, but found no evidence of bootlegging; Cornero was probably warned ahead of time.
Las Vegas - The Meadows[edit]
With the repeal of Prohibition, Cornero moved into gaming. In 1931 when gambling was legalized, he and his brothers Louis and Frank moved to Las Vegas, and took an option to purchase a 30-acre (12 ha) piece of desert land outside the Las Vegas city limits. Cornero soon opened The Meadows Casino & Hotel one of the first seven licensed casinos in the Las Vegas area, with a hotel that opened soon after the casino. It is considered the earliest resorts in Vegas, 10 years before El Rancho Vegas and 15 ahead of The Flamingo.[1]
However, Cornero's success soon brought unwanted attention. Charles 'Lucky' Luciano, boss of the New York Luciano crime family and his associates, casino owner Meyer Lansky, demanded a percentage of Cornero's gaming profits. Cornero refused to be extorted and the Meadows was eventually torched. Cornero sold his Las Vegas interests and moved back to Los Angeles.
Floating casinos[edit]
In 1938, Cornero decided to open a shipboard gaming operation off the Southern California coast. By sailing in international waters, Cornero hoped to legally run his gambling dens without interference from U.S. authorities.
Cornero purchased two large ships and converted them into luxury casinos at a cost of $300,000. He named the ships the SS Rex and the SS Tango. Cornero's premier cruise ship was the SS Rex, which could accommodate over 2,000 gamblers. It carried a crew of 350, including waiters and waitresses, gourmet chefs, a full orchestra, and a squad of gunmen. Its first class dining room served French cuisine exclusively.
The two ships were anchored outside the 'three mile limit' off Santa Monica and Long Beach. The wealthy of Los Angeles would take water taxis out to the ships to enjoy the gambling, shows, and restaurants.
In October 1939, the Los Angeles Zoo was facing a financial crisis. Cornero offered the zoo a day's proceeds from the SS Rex. Considering that his ships were earning $300,000 a cruise, this was no idle gesture. Although zoo officials seriously considered the offer, pressure from state politicians forced them to decline it.
The end of the fleet[edit]
The success of Cornero's floating casinos brought outrage from California officials. State Attorney GeneralEarl Warren ordered a series of raids against his gambling ships.
On May 4, 1946, after Warren became governor of California, he issued a public statement declaring his intentions to shut down gambling ships outside California waters; Warren said he intended, 'to call the Navy and Coast Guard if necessary.' During his address, Warren specifically denounced the newly built gambling ship owned by 'Admiral' Tony Cornero. Warren stated 'It's an outrage that lumber should be used for such a gambling ship, when veterans can't get lumber with which to build their homes.'
Despite battles with authorities over the legality of their entering international waters, the State of California found a way to circumvent the 'three mile limit'. The state refigured the starting point of the 'three mile limit' off the coastline and determined the ships were indeed in California waters. Without wasting any time, police boarded several U.S. Coast Guard craft and sailed out to Cornero's ships to close them down and arrest Cornero. However, when the police reached the ships, Cornero would not let them board. Reportedly, Cornero turned the ship's fire hoses on the police when they attempted to board and declared they were committing 'piracy on the high seas'. A standoff ensued for eight days before Cornero finally surrendered.
Cornero eventually closed his floating casinos. He later tried to reopen land-based illegal casinos in Los Angeles; however, he was thwarted by mobster Mickey Cohen. Instead, Cornero returned to Las Vegas.
Murder attempt[edit]
In Las Vegas, Cornero contacted his friend Orlando Silvagni, owner of the Apache Hotel. Cornero made a deal with Silvagni to lease the hotel casino and rename it the 'SS Rex' (after his former floating casino in California). The Las Vegas City Council, aware of Cornero's history with the Green Meadows casino and his floating casinos, voted 'no' on approving his gambling license. However, one councilman then changed his vote, the motion passed, and Cornero got his license. However, in a later vote, the Council revoked Cornero's gambling license, and he then closed the SS Rex.
Cornero and his wife left Las Vegas and moved back to Beverly Hills, California. Cornero made plans to invest in Baja California in Mexico. On February 9, 1948, two Mexican men came to Cornero's home in Beverly Hills. When Cornero answered the door, one man gave Cornero a carton and said, 'here, Cornero – this is for you' and shot him four times in the stomach. Gravely wounded, Cornero underwent surgery that night and managed to survive the shooting.
The Stardust Resort and Casino[edit]
As soon as Cornero recovered from his wounds, he returned to Vegas to build a new hotel and casino, the Stardust Resort & Casino. He bought a 40-acre (16 ha) piece of land on the Las Vegas Strip and filed an application with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to sell stock in the hotel corporation. When the stock was issued, Cornero bought 65,000 shares for 10 cents apiece, giving him majority control of the corporation at 51% of all stock. Cornero then sold the remaining shares. Finally, he applied to the Nevada Gaming Commission for his gaming license and was turned down. The Commission rejected Cornero's application because of an old bootlegging conviction and the trouble that Cornero was having with the SEC. This rejection meant Cornero had invested his money in a half-built casino that he was not allowed to operate.
Not to be stopped, Cornero came up with a new plan. He asked his friend Milton B. 'Farmer' Page, another Las Vegas casino owner, to take over the project. Page agreed on the condition that he be able to run it. In 1955, Cornero made the first of several presentations seeking loans from Moe Dalitz, owner of the Desert Inn hotel and casino, and Dalitz' partner, New York mobster Meyer Lansky. Dalitz decided to initially loan Cornero $1.25 million. This loan was followed by a second and third loan, with Cornero using the unfinished Stardust Hotel as loan collateral. Loans with United Hotels were then nearly $4.3 million. Despite these cash infusions, Cornero ran out of money again as the hotel construction was finishing.
Suspicious death[edit]
On July 31, 1955, Cornero told an investors' meeting in Las Vegas, 'we need another $800,000 to stock the casino with cash and pay the liquor and food suppliers'. Later that day, Cornero was playing craps in the Desert Inn Casino.[2] Suddenly, he fell to the floor and died.
Rumors soon arose that someone had poisoned Cornero's drink. The rumors gained credence when Cornero's body was removed from the casino floor before anyone contacted the Clark County Coroner or the Clark County Sheriff's Department. Cornero's drinking glass was taken and washed; sheriff's deputies never had the chance to examine it. No autopsy was performed and a coroner's jury in Los Angeles determined that he died of a heart attack.
Aftermath[edit]
Cornero was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California. In 1958, the Stardust Resort and Casino finally opened and became the largest hotel in the world. The Stardust would remain a huge success until its demolition by implosion in 2007. Cornero is also credited with the lucrative concept of putting slot machines in the hotel lobby to lure guests as they passed by.
In popular culture[edit]
- The 1940 novel Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler, portrayed gambling ships stationed off the Southern California coast, run by a sophisticated gangster similar to Cornero. The story was adapted for the screen in 1942 as The Falcon Takes Over, in 1944 as Murder, My Sweet (also known in the UK as Farewell, My Lovely), and in 1975 as Farewell, My Lovely
- The 1940 film Gambling on the High Seas was set in part aboard a gambling ship, the S.S. Sylvania.
- In the 1943 film Mr. Lucky, Cary Grant portrayed 'Joe 'The Greek' Adams', a character loosely based on Cornero. The story-line carried over to episodes of the 1959-1960 CBS US TV series of the same name.
References[edit]
Notes
- ^Green, Michael S. (2006) Las Vegas: A Pictorial Celebration. Sterling ISBN9781402723858
- ^Moe, Albert Woods (2001) Nevada's Golden Age of Gambling Puget Sound Books. ISBN0-9715019-0-4
Bibliography
- Capeci, Jerry (2002) The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia. Indianapolis: Alpha Books. ISBN0-02-864225-2
- Reppetto, Thomas A. (2004) American Mafia: A History of Its Rise to Power. New York: Henry Holt & Co. ISBN0-8050-7798-7
Further reading
- Henstell, Bruce (1984) Sunshine and Wealth: Los Angeles in the Twenties and Thirties. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. ISBN0-87701-275-X
- Marquz, Ernest (2011) Noir Afloat: Tony Cornero and the Notorious Gambling Ships of Southern California. Santa Monica: Angel City Press. ISBN978-1-883318-66-6
- Wolf, Marvin J. and Mader, Katherine (1988) Fallen Angels: Chronicles of L.A. Crime and Mystery. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN0-345-34770-6
External links[edit]
- Stardust In Your Eyes: Tony Cornero and the Stardust Hotel by John William Tuohy
- Anthony Cornero at Find a Grave
- LasVegasLogue.com - Tony Cornero by Jen Leo
- Organized crime in Los Angeles in 1930s on YouTube
New Frontier implosion
When: Hotel closed midnight, July 15, 2007. Imploded Nov. 13, 2007. With thundering crash, the New Frontier came down on Nov. 13, 2007, closing the door on the second oldest hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. While the New Frontier never had the romantic Rat Pack era associations that other imploded hotels (Sands, Dunes) had, it did have its share of historic Vegas moments. This was the hotel that Elvis Presley made his Vegas debut at in 1956. (Presley received a cool reception and was panned by Vegas entertainment critics.) The New Frontier was also the starting place for Vegas headliners, Siegfried & Roy. The hotel was, until its implosion, the last operating hotel that was once owned by Howard Hughes and was also the site of one of the longest-running labor strikes in U.S. history (six years and four months). Plans for The New Frontier land are currently on hold. Read more about the New Frontier's implosion in the Las Vegas Sun. |
Stardust implosion
When:Hotel closed Oct. 31, 2006. Imploded March 13, 2007. With its explosive implosion on March 13, 2007, the final chapter of the iconic Stardust resort was written. Boyd Gaming closed the doors on the 48-year-old casino and hotel Nov. 1, 2006 in anticipation of the implosion that cleared the way for Echelon Place, Boyd's planned complex of resort hotels and convention facilities. The implosion of the Stardust was one of the more emotional for locals and long-time visitors alike. Its colorful past, most notably its mob ties, was a major source for the movie 'Casino.' Though there have been a number of significant implosions over the last decade, the Stardust's erasure was the largest since the Sands disappeared into a cloud of dust in 1996. Read more about the Stardust's implosion in the Las Vegas Sun. |
Boardwalk implosion
| When: May 9, 2006 Replaced by: MGM Mirage CityCenter project (under construction) It would be an understatement to say that the Boardwalk hotel was an anomaly on the south end of the Strip. Its faux-Ferris wheel façade, replete with dummy passengers, was looking more than just out-of-place surrounded by such newer neighbors as the MGM Grand, New York-New York and Monte Carlo resorts. So when MGM Grand acquired it in 2000, its death certificate was effectively signed. The aging and inefficient Boardwalk provided more entertainment value in its explosion than perhaps at any point during its operation. At least its clearing was not in vain. Its footprint is a key part of MGM Mirage's $7 billion CityCenter project, a mixed-use resort and entertainment complex combining gaming, shopping, state-of-the-art architecture, upscale hotels and hi-rise condominiums. Read more about the Boardwalk's implosion in the Las Vegas Sun. |
Bourbon Street
| When: February 14, 2006 Replaced by: Nothing at this time (property owned by Harrah's). The Shendandoah, as it was first known, opened in 1980 with several owners including Wayne Newton. After just four years, the property filed for bankruptcy. This without the casino ever opening. In 1985 a Canadian based company would become the first foreign company to obtain a license to operate a casino in Nevada as they reopened the property with the New Orleans theme of Bourbon Street. In March 2005, Harrah's purchased the property and several surrounding properties to acquire an 8 acre land parcel just off the strip and adjacent to the Las Vegas Monorail. The casino was closed in October of 2005 with demolition work beginning on the property the following January. |
Castaways
Where Was The Stardust Located
| When: January 11, 2006 Replaced by: Nothing at this time (property owned by Station Casinos). The property originally opened as the Showboat in 1954, taking advantage of a Mississippi riverboat theme. Originally built by the ownership of the Desert Inn, the Showboat received numerous upgrades over the years, including bowling lanes in 1959 and several hotel towers that eventually amounted to 500 rooms. The bowling center became so popular that it grew to 106 lanes in the 1980s and held a number of professional televised events. The sports pavilion also achieved notoriety by showcasing boxing, wrestling and roller derby. Harrah's Entertainment bought the property in 1998 and opened other Showboat properties in Atlantic City, New Orleans, Illinois and Australia. Harrah's only ran the casino for two years before selling it to a group of investors. It was after this sale that the Showboat was renamed the Castaways and rebranded in a tropical island feel. Three years later the property was in bankruptcy, finally closing in January 2004. Station Casinos bought the site late in 2004. |
Desert Inn implosion
| When: Oct. 23, 2001 Replaced by:Wynn Las Vegas The implosion of the Desert Inn might be somewhat of an anomaly. The famous resort was purchased in 2000 by visionary developer Steve Wynn, who closed it several months later with plans to build a mega-resort. But the D.I. - as referred to affectionately by locals - was not aging, in disrepair or suffering great losses. Opening as Wilbur Clark's Desert Inn in 1950, the D.I. was the fifth resort to appear on what would become the Las Vegas Strip. The popular resort - which featured an 18-hole golf course and a showroom that hosted the biggest names in entertainment, including Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Tina Turner and more - was purchased by billionaire Howard Hughes in 1967 after the hotel's management unsuccessfully tried to eject him from their penthouse suites. It changed owners throughout the next 30 years, but in 1997, the D.I. underwent major renovations, giving it a completely fresh, upscale appearance more in line with the cosmopolitan direction of newer mega-resorts. Nonetheless, Wynn had a vision and that vision required the leveling of the resort's Augusta Tower in 2001. The remaining smaller towers of the D.I. were used as offices for Wynn Resorts and housed Wynn's art collection before finally being imploded with little fanfare on an early autumn morning in 2004. Wynn Las Vegas, a $2.7 billion mega-resort centered around a gleaming, amber, 60-story tower, opened on April 28, 2005. The footprint of the towers from the second implosion yielded Encore, an adjacent resort, which opened in late 2008. Read more about the Desert Inn's implosion in the Las Vegas Sun. |
El Rancho implosion
| When: Oct. 3, 2000 Replaced by: Fontainebleau Las Vegas (under construction). Though it cribbed its name from the first major hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, the El Rancho hotel and casino just couldn't find its place in an ever-changing Vegas. It started life as the Thunderbird in 1948 (not to be confused with the hotel of the same name a mile north on the Strip), was sold and renamed as the Silverbird in 1976, and then in 1982, former Aladdin owner Ed Torres re-imagined the property as the Western-themed El Rancho. The property enjoyed a successful re-opening, but never really caught on. After 10 years of financial struggles, Torres shut down the El Rancho, and it sat empty, like a towering ghost town, for eight years before its 13-story tower was imploded by new owners Turnberry Associates, who wanted to ensure a clear view for owners of their adjacent hi-rise condominium project, Turnberry Place. Read more about the El Rancho's implosion in the Las Vegas Sun. |
Aladdin implosion
| When: April 27, 1998 Replaced by:Aladdin The Aladdin hotel and casino may be the most perplexing of Vegas' infamous implosions, even more so than the replacing of the unique Landmark casino with a parking lot. Instead of simply remodeling or upgrading facilities in waves, the Aladdin started over completely. Itself a reinvention of a property formerly known as King's Resort (and before that, the Tally-Ho), the Aladdin opened in 1966, eventually encompassing 36 acres, with a 17-story tower, 1,100 rooms and a checkered past full of financial troubles, legal problems and mob involvement. Not even Wayne Newton's early-1980s co-ownership could fully save this seemingly-cursed resort. The only part of the resort to remain standing after the implosion was the Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts, which became a centerpiece of the new Aladdin that opened in August 2000, a $1.4 billion, '1001 Arabian Nights'-themed resort featuring 2,600 rooms, Desert Passage, a 500,000-square-foot shopping center, a 100,000-square-foot casino, 21 restaurants and 75,000 square feet of meeting rooms. The hotel eventually went on to become Planet Hollywood, sans implosion. Read more about the Aladdin's implosion in the Las Vegas Sun. |
Hacienda implosion
Stardust Casino Las Vegas Memorabilia
| When: Dec. 31, 1996 - Jan. 1, 1997 Replaced by:Mandalay Bay Before the 40-year-old Hacienda was taken down on New Year's 1997, its planned replacement was a secret project known only as 'Project Paradise.' Nearly 10 years later, that South Strip property is home to one of Las Vegas' most successful resorts, Mandalay Bay, which also comprises THEhotel and a Four Seasons within its expansive acreage. The Hacienda started as a 256-room motor lodge on the outskirts of town and grew to a 1,200-room resort. It was among the first properties to offer family-friendly recreation, including a miniature golf course and a go-kart track. In its later years, the resort succumbed to age and a loss in traffic to the new, gleaming mega-resorts popping up further north on the Strip. Read more about the Hacienda's implosion in the Las Vegas Sun. |
Sands implosion
| When: Nov. 26, 1996 Replaced by:Venetian When you think of classic Las Vegas, it's possible you conjure the iconic image of 'The Rat Pack' - Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joey Bishop, Dean Martin and Peter Lawford - standing in front of the Sands marquee, the wide-open blue sky of Vegas spread out behind them. There's a good reason: The Sands' Copa Room was the birthplace of this creative collaboration in 1960. Sadly, those glory days of the circular Sands hotel-casino were 30 years past when owner Sheldon Adelson imploded the 44-year-old resort in 1996 to clear space for the Venetian resort, the $1.8 billion hotel-casino which - with its reproduction of Venice's canals and streets - now occupies most of the former Sands' property. An adjacent Adelson property, The Palazzo, opened in 2007. The Sands lives on, however, both visually in the original 'Ocean's Eleven' film and on musical albums recorded live at the hotel by the likes of Sinatra, Davis, Jr. and others. Read more about the Sands' implosion in the Las Vegas Sun. |
Landmark implosion
Old Stardust Hotel In Vegas
| When: Nov. 7, 1995 Replaced by: Parking lot Few things are more cinematic than Vegas hotel implosions, and the Landmark Hotel and Casino's explosive demolition will forever be immortalized as the Martian-destroyed Galaxy Hotel in Tim Burton's 'Mars Attacks!' Before being cleared away to accommodate 2,000 new parking spaces for the neighboring Las Vegas Convention Center, the Landmark - with its unique, flying saucer-shaped tower - lived up to its name. The futuristic-themed hotel, which opened Fourth of July weekend in 1969 with Danny Thomas playing the showroom, was built by Frank Carroll but purchased by eccentric developer Howard Hughes in 1968. In its heyday, the Landmark played host to other celebrities such as Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. The hotel starred in a few other movies prior to its implosion, most notably 'Diamonds Are Forever' and 'Casino.' Read more about the Landmark's implosion in the Las Vegas Sun. |
Stardust Hotel&casino Implosion
Dunes implosion
| When: Oct. 22, 1993 Replaced by:Bellagio If there is such a thing as an 'implosion craze' in Las Vegas, then the demolition of the Dunes was the hotel ending that started the trend. One of Vegas' most classic establishments, the Dunes opened in 1955, heralded by a 35-foot-tall sultan that straddled its main entrance. By the time of its closing in 1993, the sultan was long gone, as were the glory days of the Dunes, its significance dwindling as new mega-resorts like the Mirage and Treasure Island opened. The implosion of the Dunes demarcated the end of an era as much as the opening of its replacement, the $1.6 billion Bellagio resort, at its time the world's costliest hotel. Bellagio opened with more than 3,000 rooms on an 11-acre site, featuring a 22-million-gallon lake, the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art and a spectacular Cirque du Soleil production show, 'O.' Read more about the Dune's implosion in the Las Vegas Sun. |