Most people know that Las Vegas is famous for blowing up the past and continually building something new. That situation can make it difficult to remember what the city was even just a few short years ago. It has been surprising for me to learn that Vegas is, in truth, the site of a great deal of innovative “Modern” architecture. The Beyond the Mint panel discussion and bus tour on October 3rd provided more information that I could absorb in just one afternoon.

The Mint was an iconic building on Fremont Street during the period we call “Mid-Century.” As The Mint no longer exists, I couldn’t get a photograph for myself. Alan Hess, the principal presenter at the panel discussion that preceded the bus tour, explained that The Mint was the first building ever where the signage was actually a part of the structure, not added on, affixed to or otherwise created separately. I have been unable to find a picture of The Mint that is available for publication here, but you can see a lot of such photos if you check Google Images for The Mint Las Vegas. If you do, notice how the signage is actually a part of the structure of the building, not attached, painted on, or otherwise added later. This was a modern architecture first.

Hess was joined on the panel by Walter Zick’s daughters, Karen and Claire. They were able to tell stories about growing up in Vegas back in the day. I was interested to hear that they lived in Paradise Palms, as Tami and I do today, even though Zick and his partner Harris Sharp did not design any of the housing there. He told his daughters that the houses were so well done that there was no need for him to bother himself with designing something himself. We learned that Zick was first brought to town by Benjamin Siegel, the man famous for opening the Flamingo Hotel and subsequently being murdered. Apparently one day Siegel told Zick that he needed a side table in his room. After Siegel described the dimensions, Zick told his daughter that he asked Siegel if it was for a machine gun. Benjamin said, “Yeah!” Those were the days in Vegas, apparently.

The panel discussion went over an hour, but the real attraction for me was the bus tour of Mid-Century Modern architecture. As Hess pointed out in answer to a question, the architects of that time didn’t call it “Mid Century” anything. They just called it modern. According to Hess, they believed that they had “transcended history,” and that their style would simply go on and on. Oops, I guess, because post-modernism had its day, and now we are in the midst of, well, nobody seems to know, but it isn’t modern. I was anxious to see just how much modern architecture was still in use around the city. The panel discussion over, we all went outside and climbed aboard our ride.

The bus tour took in a whole lot of architecturally significant sights. So many, in fact, that I’m going to have to continue this report in another posting. I will leave you for now with these hints. One of the locations is now the site of the Huntridge Drug Store among other things. And, several of the buildings are literally within a mile of my house. Until next time, then, when I’ll post some pictures of Modern Architecture in Las Vegas, and tell you all about my afternoon on top of a London double-decker bus.