Posthumous congratulations to Martin Stern Jr. (1917-2001), father of the vertically integrated casino resort. He will be the recipient of the annual Jay Sarno Award at this year’s Global Gaming Expo. The choice of Stern has been such a closely guarded secret that not even Sarno biographer (and keeper of the Stern archives) Dr. David G. Schwartz knew when I asked him last Thursday. Ironically, the honor comes the same year that Stern’s first Strip project, the high-rise expansion of the Sahara, closed for business. Current owner Sammy “The Naz” Nazarian has turned it into a chop shop, stripping the old gal for parts. Perhaps that’s how he scared up the money to buy back the note on the old gal at a discount. Sahara Sam has now turned his energies to romancing his harshest critic, Chuck Monster, perhaps in hopes of generating more lenient coverage. (I wouldn’t count on it, Sammy. Just ask Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.)
Stern’s first signature property was the (now) Las Vegas Hilton, uniting all the key casino components under one ginormous roof. Kirk Kerkorian liked Stern’s work so much, he hired him to execute the first MGM Grand, now better known as Bally’s Las Vegas. While Nevada projects represented fully half of Stern’s output, he also designed Trump Plaza. In recent years, Prof. Schwartz has helped draw attention to Stern’s unrealized dream: Xanadu. The half-Mayan, half-Jetsons casino would certainly have been aesthetically preferable to the horror that arose on Stern’s intended site: Excalibur. Figuratively, those Tournament of Kings knights trample on Stern’s heart nightly. Anyway, congratulations, Mr. Stern. I’m sorry you can’t make it to the party. It’s an honor well deserved.
