El Cortez Turns 85 With a Downtown Vegas Party
Published · Gamebridge News
One of the oldest casinos in Las Vegas is about to turn 85. El Cortez Hotel & Casino is marking the milestone with two events in downtown Las Vegas.
News 3 Las Vegas reports the first is a city proclamation ceremony at 2 p.m. on November 5. Mayor Shelley Berkley and Councilwoman Olivia Diaz will join El Cortez Chairman and CEO Kenny Epstein.
The ceremony will also honor nine longtime workers. According to the casino, each one is the longest-serving member of their department.
The public party is on November 7, the exact day the casino opened. Guests inside the casino can get free cake and champagne.
The history goes back a long way. El Cortez opened on Fremont Street on November 7, 1941. It was a 60-room hotel, and the property calls it downtown Las Vegas’ first major casino resort. J.K. Houssels and partners built it for $245,000.
Some famous names owned it over the years. News 3 says Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel and several associates bought it in 1945. Jackie Gaughan bought it in 1963 and lived there for decades. Kenny Epstein, who became Gaughan’s partner in 1975, bought El Cortez in 2008.
The property says the Epstein family has put more than $120 million into improvements while keeping its old-school character. El Cortez is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Recent additions include Alex Prime Steakhouse and a reimagined Siegel’s 1941 restaurant.
There is one more piece of history on the same day. The Neon Museum lists an El Cortez sign relighting at its Neon Boneyard on November 7, from 5 to 6 p.m. The sign once hung on the hotel’s parking garage, which was finished in 1974, and it reads “The place for fun since 1941!”
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