What year did they drop the Union from Union Plaza?

The Union Plaza opened at 1 Main Street in July 1971 (it celebrated its 50th anniversary last year).

At the time, it was downtown's largest hotel-casino, with a 22-story 500-room tower, and it was widely believed also to be the largest in the world.

It was built, appropriately enough, by the Union Pacific Railroad on its own land, the site of the 1905 railroad auction where modern Las Vegas was born. It cost a whopping $20 million to build and it was managed by a group of downtown casino operators, including Sam and Bill Boyd and Jackie Gaughan. The UP's 1940 depot was demolished to make room for the new property. When it opened (and for nearly 30 years thereafter), a small waiting room hosted passengers catching Amtrak; it was the only railroad station in the country within a casino.

The Union Plaza opened the first race and sports book in a Las Vegas casino in 1975. In 1983, the owners added a 26-story 526-room tower.

In 1990, Jackie Gaughan acquired the whole shebang by buying out his partners for an undisclosed sum. At that time, he dropped the Union from the name and it's been the Plaza ever since.

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Sandra Ritter Apr-26-2022

10 Years Off

1971 would make it its 50th anniversary.

Deke Castleman Apr-26-2022

50th

Whoops. Someone (ahem) hit the 6 key instead of the 5. All corrected. Thanks for the heads up, Sandy!

Susan Johnson Apr-26-2022

Nudes on Ice!

In 1989, my mom and I went to Las Vegas and we saw Nudes on Ice at the Union Plaza.  It was "free" for the cost of a drink, $5.  There were also a lot of empty lots on the strip! Hard to picture now...

Luis Apr-26-2022

memory lane

The Gaugahn's and the Boyd's have a rich history in Vegas, and for the most part they are still doing it the right way, service, specially Michael Gaugahn at the South Point, Boyd Gaming is more Hit and miss, They try, but some of their decisions are more corporate than service minded, and service is what sometimes lacks, I still remember when Michael Gaugahn owned Coast Casinos, I stayed at The Orleans oh about 50 times, and every time was a great time, great fun and great service everywhere. When Coast was bought out, things started to change, and when Mr. Gaughan opted out and bought the South Coast (now South point), a lot of the staff at the Orleans follwed him, and things changed there. It still had better service than strip hotels but nothing compared with the old coast casinos, and the South Point had great customer service, still does. So Ownership does matter, and decisions taken as a family owned place sometimes are better for customers than corporate decisions.

rokgpsman Apr-26-2022

Nudes on Ice show

@Susan
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I remember that show Nudes on Ice. It had male and female skaters. The females weren't actually nude, just topless with skimpy bottoms. I think it was at the Plaza for about 3 years from 1988-1990. The show first appeared at the Aladdin back in the middle 1960's. There's an old photo from 1968 at the vintagevegas website of the Aladdin sign with Nudes On Ice advertised. I don't think the show performed anywhere after it closed at the Plaza. Las Vegas shows often move from one casino to another when their contract isn't renewed and they find another casino willing to give the show a try. But eventually most shows run their course and closes forever.

Roy Furukawa Apr-26-2022

Commercials

I just remember the commercials that ran here in Southern California to "Live it UP! At the Union Plaza!" I used to love playing their dual (red and green?) keno games. Anyone know if they still even have keno or if they still run the dual games?

rokgpsman Apr-26-2022

Plaza keno

Roy, the Plaza recently opened their new keno lounge area on the main casino floor and they've been promoting it for some of the newer type keno games they offer like statewide keno games called Mega Keno and Mega 10 Keno that have large progressive jackpots. You can find info on the Plaza website at the link below, you will have to copy and paste the link or type it in manually to your computer's internet browser or google search for Plaza Vegas keno and it should find it. 
.  
https://www.plazahotelcasino.com/casino/keno/

Question of the Day - 26 April 2022

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