Lansing State Journal from Lansing, Michigan • Page 17

i "I a 4 STATE JOURXAL July 6, 1969 B-3 Lansing, Mkhigan Two Casino-Hotels Open in Las Vegas With Usual Hoopla 1 Jimm" I jl.ll II I ll JIUIIMII I ffXS 4 $5 iAX if ff By MYRAM BORDERS LAS VEGAS, Nev. (UPI) Two of the nation's financial I tycoons have opened new pal-- aces to chance in this town of believe built on gam-- bling, superstars and a round- the-clock pace. Billionaire Howard Hughes 'opened the Landmark Tower Tuesday after pumping some $20 million into the eight-year-old white elephant that rises against the Las Vegas skyline. It was his sixth gam-, bling resort in the state. The tower, shaped like a space needle, was built in 1961 but never opened its doors because of financial troubles of previous owners.

Astronauts Eugene Cernan and Tom Stafford were the first to walk into the hotel at its official opening July 1. Hundreds of curious sightseers crowded at the front of the hotel and a traffic jam developed as numerous entertainers showed up at the Landmark to view its Incan and space-like design. GO ALMOST ANYWHERE WITH JOAN CURTIS STRIPES AND PLAIDS i J.laisii5!5 icm I if Soil lliiiki'i li liS inlnr" a I I mmmm I i i ill I mm 11 illnoi iiiis8ii5Vi- i .1 ill 1 illli it 10 portedly took 350,000 gallons of water to fill. A gourmet could suffer a gastric attack if he tried to sample food at all the restaurants provided by the two resorts, which included Mexican, Japanese, Bavarian, Chinese and European menus. The Landmark Tower opened with two casinos a gambling area on the ground floor and a casino on the 29th floor, the first high-rise gambling hall in Las Vegas.

One thousand slot machines lined the walls in the square foot casino at the International, which also lured players to 32 blackjack tables, 12 dice tables as well as roulette, baccarat and keno. Money changes hands in this gambling resort as fast as stock is traded on the exchange. During the first quarter of this year, the state collected $7.85 million in taxes from gambling more than $5 million of which came from Clark County. Some 20 million tourists-visit the state each year a majority of whom stop in Las Vegas. If statistcians are correct in saying that each visitor spends about $50 a day here, then more than $1 billion pours into Nevada annually from tourism.

The Landmark Tower and the International Hotel added some 2,000 rooms to the 25,000 previously available. (Miami Beach, for example, boasts 45.000 hotel rooms). The Hughes and Kerkorian resorts broke with tradition in that they were not constructed on the Las Vegas Strip, which already is lined with more than a dozen luxury gambling resorts. Both the Landmark and the International are built near the Las Vegas Convention Center near Paradise Valley Road a north-south thoroughfare which Kerkorian predicts will become a second strip. Both hotels swung open their doors prior to the lucrative July 4 weekend, one of the busiest tourist weekends of the year when more than 50,000 visitors crowd into this desert resort for a game of chance in the green felt jungle.

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Financier Kirk Kerkorian unveiled the $60 million International Hotel the following day the city's most posh resort designed to become the largest hotel in the world with more than 3,000 rooms when all additions are completed. But on opening night, only a 1.500-room tower was completed and about half of the rooms were ready for occupancy. Barbra Streisand initiated the showroom. She reportedly has signed a $1 million contract with the International. Some labor union dis-p erupted prior to the opening of Kerkorian's resort.

The incidents reportedly prompted Miss Streisand to call the president of the local power company to get assur-a that the marquee in front of the hotel would be lighted. The electricians union was involved in the brief labor dispute. Promoters of both gambling resorts claimed the biggest and the best of everything. The Landmark Tower was billed as the tallest building in the state at 345 feet. But owners of the International said the resort's glassed-in Crown Room on the 30th floor was 356 feet above the desert floor.

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