Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/109603
Kim Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian, and Kris Jenner in 2010. Richard Branson and Dita Von Teese celebrate the 10th anniversary of Virgin Airways flights from London to Vegas. unfit for the class of people we are getting to come to Las Vegas, and the increasing number of airlines serving this community has brought obsolescence so far as accommodations are concerned.��� With support from key business and political leaders, in 1960 the bond measure passed. PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRISTOPHER DEVARGAS/LAS VEGAS SUN (TERMINAL 3), COURTESY OF LAS VEGAS SUN (SLOTS), DENISE TRUSCELLO/WIREIMAGE (KARDASHIANS), ETHAN MILLER/GETTY IMAGES (BRANSON) T he 1963 terminal was the culmination of the work of one who wouldn���t live to see it: US Sen. Pat McCarran, the Reno-born son of Irish immigrants, who worked on the family���s Northern Nevada sheep ranch as a young boy and later passed the state bar exam without ever attending law school. McCarran, a Democrat who was probably best known for his avid anticommunism and close alliance with Red-baiting Sen. Joe McCarthy, was an aggressive advocate for airport development throughout the West, particularly in Nevada. McCarran believed that for the Nevada economy to evolve beyond its dependence on mining, which was subject to cycles of boom and bust, a robust aviation industry would have to play a significant role. In the coming decades McCarran successfully pushed for the development of what was to become Nellis Air Force Base and for funding to expand the Las Vegas airport that would carry his name. ���The irony is, his actions did a lot to build tourism and gaming, and he did a lot to protect them, but he didn���t like gamblers or gambling,��� says the College of Southern Nevada���s Green. ���He did not like the idea that his state depended on casinos, but he also believed that if the federal government McCarran���s brand-new Terminal 3. had money to spend, they should spend it here.��� McCarran died in 1954 while serving as a senator, but his Democratic successors���Howard Cannon and Alan Bible���also recognized the importance of aviation in the development of Nevada and pushed for the federal money that helped pay for the McCarran Airport expansion of 1963. The celebration was short: As soon as that expansion was complete, airport and county officials began preparing for the next one. Boeing and McDonnell Douglas were in the midst of developing their 747 and DC-10 models, respectively, which would require larger terminals and longer runways throughout the world. Casino developers Jay Sarno and Kirk Kerkorian were ushering in the age of the Las Vegas megaresort with the development of Caesars Palace and the International Hotel (later known as the Las Vegas Hilton and now the Las Vegas Hotel and Casino). And the Las Vegas Valley���s population would continue to nearly double every decade, pushing the need for a larger airport to better handle travel for tourists and locals. Last year, Terminal 3 opened at a cost of $2.4 billion, making it the largest public works project in the state���s history. The 2,300-foot-long structure, stark and cold compared to the colorful main terminal, handles all international flights at McCarran and some domestic, with its own baggage claim, ticketing, and parking structures, making it a key tool in the Strip���s efforts to expand its international customer base. The story continues. V DOES ANYONE EVER WIN? IN THE DAYS BEFORE THE Welcome to Vegas! nationwide spread of legalized gambling, the McCarran Airport slots had a powerful, symbolic tug on visitors: They had arrived in Vegas! The slot machines were and still are the first and last shot that visitors have at winning a jackpot, and today they remain moneymakers for the Clark County Department of Aviation, which has leased them to South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa owner Michael Gaughan for nearly 30 years. Last year the county earned about $25 million from the 1,400 machines, says Gaughan. After all, they���re the only casino games offered at McCarran, whose customers waiting for flights define the term ���captive audience.��� The machines have also generated two Megabucks winners and multiple Quartermania jackpots. ���If you make [the machines] too tight,��� says Gaughan, ���they won���t play.��� VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 104-109_V_Feat_FiftyandFab_Spring13.indd 109 109 2/11/13 1:01 PM