Vol. 4, No. 6, June 2008
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Casino as art
Las Vegas has some of the largest hotels in the world, but some of its most loved attractions have been tiny. The Glass Pool Inn was small, but it had a big place in the hearts of residents and visitors alike.
Before Interstate 15 whisked drivers to exits for the Strip and Downtown, all traffic from Southern California chugged up Highway 91—Las Vegas Boulevard. And before the blur of development that’s pushed past the South Point, that was a lonely approach.
In 1952, small motels and gas stations dotted the road south of the Flamingo, which was the southernmost casino yet to open. Furthest from the action stood the Mirage. It didn’t have that much to differentiate it from the others—until 1955, when the owners built an above-ground pool with eye-catching porthole windows. It was a cool, kidney-shaped, exuberant piece of mid-century modern art. And, for carloads of bedraggled drivers, it really seemed like a mirage.
In a desert resort that suffers through blazing summertime heat, “Mirage” is too good a name to pass up. Steve Wynn certainly thought so, and he bought the name from the motel’s owners for $350,000.
Pressed for a new name, owners Allen and Susie Rosoff, turned to the obvious: since the pool was their establishment’s best feature, and the sign was already kidney-shaped, why not just call the place “the Glass Pool Inn?”
During the 1990s, several movies featured scenes filmed at the Glass Pool Inn, including Indecent Proposal, Casino and Leaving Las Vegas. For many people who never visited Las Vegas, the Glass Pool Inn was an iconic piece of the city. The motel became a true fan favorite with legions of devotees.
But its popularity couldn’t slow the march of time. In any other city, a 50-year-old building wouldn’t be considered ancient—in some European capitals, it would even be considered young. But on the Las Vegas Strip, newer is better, and bigger is more profitable. So in 2003 the Rosoffs sold the Glass Pool Inn to a developer who ultimately razed it, with the hope of building a major casino project on it and adjacent land.
That project remains, as of now, a mirage, but the original Mirage, though felled by the wrecking ball, lives on in the memories of everyone who experienced it.
SOURCE: Neon Survey Collection, UNLV Special CollectionsBefore Interstate 15 whisked drivers to exits for the Strip and Downtown, all traffic from Southern California chugged up Highway 91—Las Vegas Boulevard. And before the blur of development that’s pushed past the South Point, that was a lonely approach.
In 1952, small motels and gas stations dotted the road south of the Flamingo, which was the southernmost casino yet to open. Furthest from the action stood the Mirage. It didn’t have that much to differentiate it from the others—until 1955, when the owners built an above-ground pool with eye-catching porthole windows. It was a cool, kidney-shaped, exuberant piece of mid-century modern art. And, for carloads of bedraggled drivers, it really seemed like a mirage.
In a desert resort that suffers through blazing summertime heat, “Mirage” is too good a name to pass up. Steve Wynn certainly thought so, and he bought the name from the motel’s owners for $350,000.
Pressed for a new name, owners Allen and Susie Rosoff, turned to the obvious: since the pool was their establishment’s best feature, and the sign was already kidney-shaped, why not just call the place “the Glass Pool Inn?”
During the 1990s, several movies featured scenes filmed at the Glass Pool Inn, including Indecent Proposal, Casino and Leaving Las Vegas. For many people who never visited Las Vegas, the Glass Pool Inn was an iconic piece of the city. The motel became a true fan favorite with legions of devotees.
But its popularity couldn’t slow the march of time. In any other city, a 50-year-old building wouldn’t be considered ancient—in some European capitals, it would even be considered young. But on the Las Vegas Strip, newer is better, and bigger is more profitable. So in 2003 the Rosoffs sold the Glass Pool Inn to a developer who ultimately razed it, with the hope of building a major casino project on it and adjacent land.
That project remains, as of now, a mirage, but the original Mirage, though felled by the wrecking ball, lives on in the memories of everyone who experienced it.
SOURCE: Neon Survey Collection, UNLV Special Collections
