Town Square sits on land – the former site of the Vacation Village hotel-casino – that was licensed for unrestricted gaming, a license that continues. Vacation Village opened in 1974 and hung on until 2002, when it was sold in bankruptcy court. Casino speculator Shawn Scott then purchased it and ordered the property closed down. Two years later, the whole kit ‘n caboodle was sold to Turnberry Associates for roughly $1 million an acre – a tidy profit. Demolition was soon to follow.
Writes Vegas blogger Cameron Yana, "It’s always upsetting to see an old casino become nothing more than a memory, but Town Square is far more of an asset to both the locals and tourists of Las Vegas than Vacation Village … Town Square uses the parcel of land in a way that Vacation Village never did. The Vacation Village hotel and casino was not large by any means, and much of the property was left unused, leaving large empty spaces of desert." He’s right. Those of us who visited Vacation Village in its declining years are somewhat astounded that Town Square can fit so many buildings on what used to seem a miserable little plot of scrub.
And in the future? "We maintain our right" to have gambling, says Town Square Director of Marketing Jamieson Mapes. "The reason we don’t have gaming is to have a family-friendly property." Families first? That’s pretty remarkable, especially for Vegas.
