Evidently, this is an example of the fact that being old does not necessarily make one interesting, even in Las Vegas, since we've been able to dig up precious little in the way of any information whatsoever about this property, but for what it's worth, here's what we found out.
While originally the railroad and its depot downtown had been the principal artery delivering people to Las Vegas, with the surge in private automobile ownership post WWII more and more visitors arriving at the southern outskirts of town from California, there was a mid-century proliferation of modern "motor court motels" on the proto-Strip. The White Sands Motel, opened in 1959 at 3889 South Las Vegas Boulevard, was one among a list of many evocatively named additions to the Las Vegas accommodation map, with neighbors that included the Klondike, Pollyanna, Casa Malaga, Miami Beach, Happi Inn, Diamond Inn, Desert Oasis, and Glass Pool Inn.
Frank and Margaret Durand evidently saw an opportunity in Sin City and sold their menswear business in Freehold Township, New Jersey, to finance a cross-country move and purchase the land on which to build the White Sands, within walking distance of the Hacienda (now Mandalay Bay) and Tropicana. It featured a striking spire-like marquee and boasted a TV and shower in each of the 33 ("heated") rooms and a year-round heated pool, too.
What caused the Durands to give up the property just five years after they'd opened it, history doesn't relate (at least no history that we were able to locate), but on June 2, 1964, they sold to Dale Hamilton and his wife Kathryn -- we assume the same Dale Hamilton who'd owned State Line (now Primm) from the early 1950s until the early '70s and had built his succinctly named State Line Bar slot business there, together with a Chevron gas station and automotive-repair/towing service.
The Hamiltons owned the White Sands until 1974, when they in turn sold to an unknown buyer. It was still operational in 1986, when it changed hands once more and was purchased by one Spartaco Colleli. Colleli closed the joint back in the late '90s and claims to have (for some inexplicable reason) turned down a "ton of money" for the lot, which has since been subject to various liens for non-payment of property tax and water charges.
The only time the White Sands Motel has made the Las Vegas headlines at all, to the best of our knowledge, was as recently as 2012, when it was featured in an article by the R-J about the feral cat problem on the Strip (and elsewhere -- Las Vegas is home to some 300,000 stray and abandoned cats). While there are many individuals (this writer included) who take part in the TNR ("trap, neuter, return") program that involves registering feral colonies to protect them, while helping to curb the endless cycle of reproduction, the owner of the White Sands had been refusing to allow anyone on property to catch the scores of felines inhabiting the derelict building.
What fate ultimately lies in store for the property at 3889 Las Vegas Boulevard remains unclear, but with most of the businesses that formerly surrounded it long-closed, and in most instances gone altogether, and with nearby Desert Oasis owner Howard Bulloch having finally thrown in the towel on his SkyVue project (see "Today's News" 11/24/15), a date with the wrecking ball can't be too far away, whenever someone figures out how to make a success of that problematic east side of the Strip.
As an aside, should you be interested in becoming the proud owner of a classic Las Vegas motel, there are actually quite a few on the market right now, and in most instances in a lot better shape than the poor old White Sands.
Photographs appear courtesy: Las Vegas, 1905-1965 Lynn M. Zook, Allen Sandquist, Carey Burke; hyperallergic.com
