El Cortez General Manager Mike Nolan says that the penthouse lay fallow for a time, as the Gaughan family took away mementos for the children and grandchildren of the late Mr. Gaughan. Subsequently, the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce conducted a meeting there that Nolan describes as "very emotional." A Christmas party for El Cortez employees was held in the suite (which includes a kitchen and a bar) but otherwise "we have not done anything with it."
"We can do stuff with the space but we’ve not been too excited to do anything with it," says Nolan, except for things that seemed appropriate to Gaughan’s memory. "It’s not something that we wanted to run out and make a [hotel] room," although it will eventually have to be put to use of some sort, possibly as a meeting space or a VIP suite. As for making it available to the general public, "That may happen but there was no rush to do so."
Part of the reason the El Cortez isn’t hastening to monetize Jackie Gaughan’s penthouse is that, for Nolan and majority owner Kenny Epstein, it’s like capitalizing on a death in the family. Both men first met Gaughan when they were 16 -- Upstein at Gaughan’s Biltmore in Lake Tahoe and Nolan when Gaughan was on his Eagle Scout board. Nolan worked for Gaughan for 37 years "and loved every minute." Epstein, Nolan says, had been with Gaughan since 1975 and ate dinner with him every night: "Mr. Gaughan’s like our father." Anybody who feels that way about Jackie Gaughan is going to be understandably reluctant to make money off his passing.
For our two-part biography of Jackie Gaughan, check the Question of the Day Archives (6/13/13 and 6/14/13.
