The El Rancho Hotel and Casino (formerly known as the Thunderbird and Silverbird) was a hotel and casino that operated on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. It originally opened on September 2, 1948, as the Navajo-themed Thunderbird. At the time, it was owned by building developer Marion Hicks and Lieutenant Governor of Nevada Clifford A. Jones. A sister property, the Algiers Hotel, was opened south of the Thunderbird in 1953. During the mid-1950s, the state investigated to determine whether underworld Mafia figures held hidden interests in the resort. Hicks and Jones ultimately prevailed and kept their gaming licenses. Hicks died in 1961, and Joe Wells, another partner in the resort, took over his position as managing director. Wells added a horse racing track called Thunderbird Downs, located behind the resort. The Thunderbird hosted numerous entertainers and shows, including Flower Drum Song and South Pacific.
Business at the resort declined as ownership changed several times. In 1965, Wells and Jones sold the Thunderbird to Del E. Webb Corporation, which sold it to Caesars World in 1972. Caesars World planned to demolish the Thunderbird and construct a $150 million resort in its place, but the project was canceled because of a lack of financing. The Thunderbird was sold to Tiger Investment Company, which leased it to Major Riddle starting in 1977. Riddle renovated and expanded the resort and renamed it the Silverbird, hoping to reinvigorate it. After Riddle died in 1980, the Silverbird was taken over by his estate. The resort closed on December 3, 1981, after an auction failed to produce a buyer for the lease. Ed Torres subsequently purchased the Silverbird and reopened it as the El Rancho on August 31, 1982. The resort featured a western theme named after the original El Rancho Vegas across the street. Torres added a 13-story hotel tower in 1988.
The El Rancho closed on July 6, 1992, unable to compete with newer mega-resorts. It sat vacant for the next eight years while two companies made several failed attempts to reopen or replace the resort. A news investigation later found the decrepit buildings to violate health and safety regulations. Turnberry Associates purchased the El Rancho and its 20 acres in May 2000. The company had been developing the Turnberry Place high-rise condominiums on 15 acres behind the El Rancho. The closed resort was considered an eyesore for the new project, so Turnberry Associates had it demolished. The El Rancho's last remaining building, the 13-story hotel tower, was imploded on October 3, 2000. The former property of the El Rancho and Algiers later became the site of the Fontainebleau Las Vegas resort, after a prolonged a construction process that began in 2007 and opened on December 13, 2023, after repeated corporate funding/ownership and coronavirus pandemic setbacks.
History
Thunderbird (1948–77) The resort originally opened as the Thunderbird, owned by building developer Marion Hicks and Lieutenant Governor of Nevada Clifford A. Jones. Hicks had previously built the El Cortez hotel-casino, which opened in downtown Las Vegas in 1941. Joe Wells, the father of actress Dawn Wells, was also a partner in the Thunderbird. Originally known as the Nevada Ambassador, the hotel project was announced in March 1946. It would cost $1 million and be built on Highway 91 in the Las Vegas Valley, on what would later become the Las Vegas Strip. Construction was underway in October 1947.
The Thunderbird opened on September 2, 1948, with 79 hotel rooms, a casino, and a bar. The cost of construction exceeded $2 million. The Thunderbird was the fourth resort to open on the Strip and was located diagonally across the street from the El Rancho Vegas. It was named after the mythical Thunderbird creature, and the entrance featured two large, neon Thunderbird statues. The Thunderbird was considered a luxurious resort, and a Southwestern/Navajo theme was featured throughout the property, including portraits of American Indians.
In February 1949, there were plans to add a 78-room hotel addition for $750,000. The hotel had expanded to 206 rooms by 1950. In 1953, the Thunderbird opened the adjacent 110-room Algiers Hotel, built south of the resort. It served as a sister property to deal with the overflow of Thunderbird guests. In its early years, the Thunderbird was a popular meeting place for local politicians.
Alleged Mafia ties In October 1954, articles in the Las Vegas Sun alleged that Jake and Meyer Lansky, both underworld Mafia figures, held hidden shares in the hotel. A state investigation was soon launched to determine whether the reports were true. The Thunderbird's complex ownership setup was questioned during a Nevada Tax Commission hearing later that month, part of the larger investigation into the resort's ownership. The property beneath the Thunderbird was owned by Bonanza Hotel, Inc, which operated the hotel portion and leased out other portions. Bonanza did not receive any of the resort's gaming revenue, and did not have stockholders. The casino, bars, and restaurants were operated by Thunderbird Hotel Company, of which Jones held an 11-percent interest. Hicks held 51-percent ownership of the resort. Both men denied that the Lanskys were involved in the Thunderbird.
Hank Greenspun, the publisher of the Las Vegas Sun, was a critic of Jones, who alleged that Greenspun was creating a "reign of terror" in southern Nevada: "No one is secure. You can't use your phone, you can't be seen with your friends for fear that will be ballooned into a sinister incident." At the end of 1954, the Thunderbird was ordered to show cause at a future hearing as to why its gaming license should not be revoked or suspended. The investigation continued into 1955, and another tax commission hearing was held that February, during which Jones criticized Greenspun. According to Jones, Greenspun was upset that the Thunderbird would not advertise in the Las Vegas Sun. Jones said that Greenspun had made repeated threats to run Hicks and himself out of town with his newspaper.
During construction of the Thunderbird, Hicks had received a loan from George Sadlo, a business associate of the Lanskys. Sadlo later assigned half of the loan to Jake Lansky, without informing Hicks. The investigation revealed that Hicks had made interest payments to Jake Lansky from 1951 to 1954. The tax commission perceived the loan as a hidden interest in the Thunderbird. On April 1, 1955, the commission ruled that Hicks and Jones had to dispose of their interest in the Thunderbird within two months. Otherwise, the resort's gaming license would be suspended. It was the first time in Nevada history that such strict action had been taken against a major casino operation. It was part of an effort by the state to prevent underworld involvement in gambling.
In May 1955, the Dallas-based Southwest Securities Company expressed interest in leasing the Thunderbird, although this did not come to fruition. Later in the month, Hicks and Jones won a temporary restraining order that blocked their ouster from the resort. The court action was filed on behalf of Thunderbird stockholders, including Hicks, Jones, and Wells. The Thunderbird continued to operate while both sides prepared for a legal battle over a permanent injunction.
Final arguments were underway in October 1955, as attorneys for the Thunderbird questioned current and former employees of the tax commission. Nevada Governor Charles H. Russell, also the chairman of the tax commission, had been running for re-election in 1954. The allegations against the Thunderbird had come to light a month before the election, and the hotel alleged that the timing of the claims was politically motivated, as one member of the tax commission had already known about the Sadlo loan years before the 1954 accusation.Retrieved July 26, 2020:
In December 1955, Judge Merwyn H. Brown ruled in favor of the Thunderbird and issued a permanent injunction against the tax commission, stating that the commission should create and publish clear guidelines declaring what casino licensees require. He stated that any licensee "is surely entitled to know what is expected of him under the license obtained, and not be subject to annihilation upon an order of the commission based upon no substantial evidence in support of an alleged violation." Brown wrote that the tax commission exhibited an "unusual eagerness" to find wrongdoing against Hicks. He also cited a lack of evidence that Jones had any knowledge of the Sadlo loan.
Three months later, the tax commission filed a notice of appeal to the Supreme Court of Nevada. Both sides gave briefs to the supreme court at the end of 1956, and final arguments over the injunction were given several months later. In May 1957, the Nevada supreme court ruled that there was not sufficient evidence to revoke the Thunderbird gaming license. The court also ruled that Brown had acted in error, stating that casino owners shall not be entitled to continue operations under a district court injunction while they are appealing decisions by the tax commission. The commission chose not to pursue the matter any further.
Changes Jones disposed of his gaming license in 1958, after purchasing a controlling interest in a Haitian casino. The tax commission had adopted a new regulation that prohibited Nevada gaming operators from owning interest in out-of-state casinos. Although Jones was no longer involved in the Thunderbird's gaming operations, he still maintained his ownership stake in the resort. The casino was closed in December 1960, for remodeling.
In May 1961, a group of businessmen agreed to lease the Thunderbird from Hicks after he was hospitalized. Hicks had been battling cancer for two years and owned 72 percent of the Thunderbird stock. The new group included Sid Wyman and two other men who had all previously been involved with the Riviera resort nearby. Plans to lease the Thunderbird were canceled in August 1961, as Hicks regained his health and wanted to maintain his control of the resort. He died the following month, at the age of 57. The casino was closed for seven hours so employees could attend Hicks' funeral, marking the second time it had ever been closed. Wells was named as the resort's new managing director, taking over for Hicks. Under Wells, the Thunderbird became heavily affiliated with sporting events such as wrestling and boxing. It also sponsored a deer-hunting contest.
Ground was broken on November 23, 1962, for a $1 million, four-story hotel addition, located directly east of the resort. It was the third phase of a $6 million project to expand and modernize the Thunderbird. At the time, the resort also operated 88 rooms at its Thunderbird West building, located on the El Rancho Vegas property and leased to the Thunderbird. Big Joe's Oyster Bar opened several months later; it resembled the interior of a ship, and fresh oysters were flown in to the restaurant daily from New Orleans. The four-story addition, with 205 rooms, was opened in November 1963. The expansion project was also supposed to include a skyscraper hotel building, approximately 17 stories with 350 rooms, to be built on the site of the hotel's pool area. It was to open in 1964, but it never materialized.