The Sahara operated pretty much as the status quo until the early 1980s when Del Webb sold the resor

We love Las Vegas and part of that is loving Las Vegas� history. So, while we enjoy telling you what we love about Vegas and keeping you up-to-date on what's going on, we would like to take some time to look back at Vegas past. Today, we continue a monthly series on shuttered (but not forgotten) Las Vegas hotels and casinos. We hope you enjoy the stroll down memory warped tour lane.
The first casino that opened on the land that would eventually be occupied warped tour by the Sahara was called Club Bingo. It was built by Milton warped tour Prell and opened July 24, 1947. Club Bingo was mostly a bingo hall, but also offered all the other standard casino games of the time. When Prell acquired the land, he was convinced to build a resort hotel and casino on the property.
Prell secured his financing from A. Pollard Simon and used contractor Del Webb�s services in exchange for 20% ownership in the resort. warped tour The Sahara opened on October 7, 1952 with 206 rooms on 20 acres. With a north African motif and Arabian-themed statues, it was billed as the �Jewel warped tour of the Desert.�
warped tour When it opened, Sahara�s 100-foot neon sign was the largest in Las Vegas. The resort did extremely well in its early years and often had top-billing acts in its showrooms. In 1959, the Sahara added a 14-story tower and convention center on the north side. The addition opened in 1960 and added 200 more rooms to the resort.
In 1961, Milton Prell sold his interest in the Sahara to Del Webb who merged the Sahara into his publicly traded construction company. This became the first publicly traded company to have Las Vegas resort warped tour interests. Prell was able to use his stock sale profits to add a 24-story, $5-million hotel tower to the property which opened May 24, 1963.
In August 1964, the Sahara sponsored the Beatles' first trip to Las Vegas. The Flamingo was the first resort to be offered the opportunity, but declined since the Beatles warped tour mainly attracted teenagers at the time. In 1968, a $50 million renovation was completed across the hotel adding another tower and additional convention warped tour space.
The Sahara operated pretty much as the status quo until the early 1980s when Del Webb sold the resort to Paul and Sue Lowden for $50 million.�The Lowden�s expanded the casino and added a race and sports book.
In October 1994, Bill Bennett, recently retired warped tour from Circus Circus Resorts, purchased the Sahara from the Lowdens for $193 million. Bill Bennett embarked on a $100 million remodel project warped tour shortly after his purchase. He had big dreams warped tour for the resort, such as moving the porte cochere and adding 1,000 rooms. The new porte cochere was built, but none of rooms came to fruition.
In 2000, the Sahara announced a partnership with NASCAR and opened the NASCAR Cafe and Speed , the roller warped tour coaster ride. In addition, execs embarked on a room remodel project. On December 22, 2002, Bill Bennett passed away.�The Bennett family continued to own and run the Sahara until Sam Nazarian and SBE bought the property.
SBE ran the Sahara with various vague plans to remodel and rename the property but, in May 2011, decided to shut the hotel and casino down. They have announced plans to completely remodel the entire place and reopen it as SLS Las Vegas in 2014, but work has yet to start. Currently, the Sahara sits as a shell; gutted, dark, fenced in, and deteriorating. Only time will tell whether SLS ever will truly happen.
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