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The Landmark existed for 34 years, 1961-1995, and during that time, sat empty and unused for a 3rd of its life. Make no mistake, the Landmark was a great idea. It just never had the support it needed to reach its potential. It resembles everything that is great about Las Vegas. Any grand idea can live here, if only here. Want to build Paris in the desert, sure; Recreate ancient Roman decadence, why not; put a casino in the sky, give it a shot. The sobering reality is it takes much more than a visionary idea to succeed in Vegas and there are many examples to prove that. Rather than lament it’s passing we should celebrate the fact that it had a chance. There are literally dozens of visionary projects planned for Las Vegas that never make it beyond the concept phase. Currently north strip is home to 3 of them in various stages of incompletion. Regardless of it’s inability to become a financial success, the Landmark was able to literally live up to it’s name, establish itself as one of the most memorable properties in the landscape of Las Vegas history.Hughes FingerprintThe PoolGalaxy HotelFall of a Landmark
For those of you interested in more information on the Landmark, I can’t recommend the Marc Wagner book “Above the All- The story of the Landmark Hotel and Casino” as well as their companion site www.landmarkhotelmemorial.com. Possibly the best documentation of a single property I’ve ever seen. Others sources include
