When the Silver Palace Casino, converted from W. E. Ferron's Las Vegas Pharmacy, which had occupied the corner of 1st and Fremont for a half century, held its grand opening on Friday, June 8, 1956 it was -- believe it or not -- the most hip kid on the block, boasting Southern Nevada's first escalator, among other things, as you can read from this fantastic vintage review from the Las Vegas Sun, which we're reproducing in its entirety, because to leave anything out would be a crime against hyperbole:
The new Silver Palace will be casting an even brighter glow at the First and Fremont location tonight for the grand opening of the ultra modern, million and a half dollar club.
Large crowds of Las Vegans, as well as visitors from all over the nation, including celebrities from the coast, are expected to be on hand to congratulate the owners of the club.
The Silver Palace, which is owned and operated by the Spinning Wheel Corp., offers an entirely new concept in casino and restaurant design for the Southern Nevada area and boasts many firsts for Las Vegas.
It is the first two level club in Las Vegas and the motor stairs, connecting the casino with the lower level restaurant, are the first in Southern Nevada.
One of the larger clubs in Las Vegas, with 16,700 square feet of floor space on the two levels, the casino is designed for 200 slot machines, three dice tables, five 21 tables, one roulette wheel and Keno.
Hailed as the sporting place for the royalty that is the American public, the Silver Palace features all the favorite games of chance set in an atmosphere of contemporary beauty.
The 70-foot, V-shaped theatre bar features top musical groups nightly and currently entertaining the lounge crowds are the Four Jockers, Dianne Lefti and Her Right Hand Men, and the Al De Pauliss Quartet.
Tommy Callahan, formerly connected with both the Frontier and Showboat, is general manager of the club and Sammy Hancock is assistant manager and casino boss. The club will employ approximately 300 people.
Over 1,000 feet of Neon tubes light the First Street side of the club and more than 3,000 light bulbs cast the Silver Palace sign in bright splendor along Fremont.
Designer Lee Linton incorporated the style of French contemporary artist Henri Matisse and the freedom of the west itself into comfortable splendor over the entire club.
A feeling of the vastness of the outdoors with myriad shining star effects is accomplished by the overhead lighting, indirect lighted wall panels and indoor gardens that feature palms reaching from the lower level to the casino ceiling, driftwood and plants of unusual and exotic splendor.
In 1964, the Silver Palace closed and changed hands to become McLaney's Carousel, which was featured in the Bond movie Diamonds are Forever. The Carousel closed abruptly in 1974 after a player hit a $25,000 keno, apparently. It reopened as the Gambler's Hall of Fame, later to become Al Sach's Sundance West, and then in 1981 was bought by Herb Pastor (an interesting character to say the least who, we discovered, you can follow on Twitter under @HerbPastor), where he bills himself as "Casino & Strip Club Owner... Serving up the 7 Deadly Sins in the City that Never Sleeps.") Pastor ditched the table games and renamed the casino, first as Sassy Sally’s, and then later Mermaids. In 2007 this, along with Pastor's other nearby properties La Bayou and Girls of Glitter Gulch strip club, were sold to current owner Steve Burnstine.
As far as the answer to your question goes, we have as yet been unable to pin down when it ceased to be a two-story property, but one thing we can put you straight on, and that's that there wasn't an upstairs: The casino has always been on street level and the escalator took guests downstairs to the restaurant, which is now simply a basement used for typical storage purposes, a helpful member of staff informed us. We're guessing the restaurant may well have closed when Pastor took over and ditched the table games, but if anyone out there knows for sure, please drop us a line. We'll keep digging in the meantime; in fact, we'll drop Herb a line via Twitter and see if we hear back! (We have in the past...)
