Presumably because owner Schiff Enterprises doesn't want to go to the trouble and expense of being in the casino business, preferring to run a souvenir shop out of the former gambling house. It was built in 1918 and subsequently converted from a restaurant to an office building and Beckley's Mens Wear (named after Downtown mover and shaker Will Beckley) then, in 1942, a casino. At the time, one of the biggest casinos in Downtown, it became the home of the iconic, 40-foot-tall Vegas Vic neon sign in 1951. (Vic originally graced the Chamber of Commerce building, starting in 1947, but was soon moved to the Pioneer Club.)
Vegas Vic used to regularly bellow "Howdy Pardner" … until 1966, when Lee Marvin was shooting The Professionals in Valley of Fire and staying at The Mint. Claiming that Vegas Vic's vocalizations kept him up nights, Marvin demanded he be silenced. (Local legend has it that either Marvin or co-star Woody Strode threatened to shoot an arrow into the sign.) Vegas Vic's voice box was disconnected and he has remained silent to this day.
During the Forties, Pioneer Club ownership was split between Tutor Scherer, Farmer Page, Bill Curland and Chuck Addison, all of whom also had illegal gambling interests in California. Their attorney was the renowned Cliff "Juice" Jones, who took his payments in the form of a stake in the casino.
Business continued on the upswing into the 1960s, when the Pioneer Club purchased the neighboring Elwell Hotel. At the time it was known as the New Pioneer Club, a name that lasted from 1956 to 1967. In 1983, it gobbled up the adjacent Club Bingo (see QoD 9/18/2005). During this period, the Pioneer Club was owned by Margaret Elardi, who sold it to Gold Strike Resorts (subsequently itself gobbled up by Circus Circus Enterprises, then by MGM Mirage), which disposed of the property in 1992.
The hotel was sold to the Golden Nugget, which demolished it in 1984. Although Nevada casinos are required by law to operate with 200 hotel rooms, the Pioneer Club enjoyed 'grandfathered' status and continued to do business until 1995. No longer able to compete with its downtown neighbors, however, the property went dark for three years, when Schiff Enterprises converted the Pioneer Club to retail. (Unfortunately, Schiff's phone number has been disconnected and directory assistance neither had a listing for Schiff, nor for the Pioneer Club, so we couldn't connect with any contemporary on-the-ground staff.)
The end of casino operations at the Pioneer Club coincided with the advent of the Fremont Street Experience, but this did have the side benefit of bringing about a push to restore Vegas Vic. Since he was too tall to fit under the FSE canopy, two and a half gallons were shaved off his 10-gallon hat. But his neon lights were restored and his arm waved in salutation once again. "He was in rough shape. Hard living, I guess," quipped Schiff Director of Operations John LaFronz to the Las Vegas Sun. Vegas Vic's yellow shirt was also repainted plaid. "I've had more work done on me than Cher, lemme tell ya," said Vic in a contemporaneous 'interview' with the Sun.
There were some stirrings of life at the Pioneer Club in 2014, when aluminum siding was removed from the south façade of the ex-casino. Subsequent construction, however, blocked the view once more. Although the siding postdates Vegas Vic by 10 years, the Pioneer Club has not denuded the Fremont Street façade.
While, in theory, gambling might still be possible in the existing Pioneer Club building, other and more recent casinos have struggled to draw patrons. With all eyes on Derek Stevens' planned reinvention of the Vegas Club/Mermaids/La Bayou block, we don't hold out much hope for a Pioneer Club comeback anytime soon.
