Judge rejects bid to build on Moulin Rouge site in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS (AP) - A Nevada judge scuttled a plan to build on the historic site of the first racially integrated casino in Las Vegas, citing infighting in the would-be development firm and a better offer from another buyer.
Clark County District Court Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez's ruling on Tuesday came seven weeks after a groundbreaking ceremony was held at the Moulin Rouge property in a West Las Vegas neighborhood.
Boris London, an estranged managing member of Moulin Rouge Holdings LLC, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal (http://bit.ly/29E4jfk ) he's cutting ties to the development firm and is relieved the judge rejected the sale.
Another company member, Scott Johnson, said he's not giving up.
The 5-acre Moulin Rouge site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It opened in 1955 and hosted headliners including Sammy Davis Jr. and Nat "King" Cole before closing six months later.
Nevada was still known as the Mississippi of the West in 1960, when area hotel owners met at the Moulin Rouge the night before a civil rights march and agreed to desegregate the Las Vegas Strip.
The property fell into disrepair over the next 40 years, and was serving as an apartment complex when a 2003 fire hurt three people, displaced more than 100 and destroyed the main casino building.
The property was ravaged again by fire in 2009, and the landmark marquee was demolished the following year.
The casino sign has been preserved at the Neon Museum in Las Vegas.