Circus Circus Hotel & Casino
Circus Circus opened on October 18, 1968. This circus themed Hotel & Casino has 3,773 rooms including a indoor 5 acre amusement park called the Adventuredome (formerly known as Grand Slam Canyon).
Circus Circus has the only RV park on the Strip providing additional accommodations in the 399 space park operated by Kampgrounds of America (KOA). Circus Circus Las Vegas is the largest permanent big top in the world.
Photo by: LasVegas360
Montyne Sculpture in Front of Circus in 1999
Born Sherman LaMont Sudbury, known as Montyne (November 23, 1916 – March 17, 1989) was an American artist and stage performer. He was best known for his sculptures that once stood in front of Circus Circus Las Vegas and for his View-Master scenes of Tarzan of the Apes.
Montyne moved to Las Vegas in 1968 to sculpt the statues in front of Circus Circus. The first, The Balancer, was a self-portrait, depicting him as an acrobat. This heroic-size statue in 1978 was featured on the front cover of 35mm Photography. The work at one time was one of the most-photographed sculptures in the world. Over the next three years, he created four more statues: the Lion, the Clown, Gargantua the gorilla, and his wife China who was featured balancing on a rolo-board. In the photo above you can see the clown and the lion on the sidewalk in from of Circus Circus on Las Vegas Blvd. (The Strip).
While working on the statues at Circus Circus, Montyne also was commissioned to create the wall murals in the convention hall at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino on Flamingo Road (1973). The casino was longer than a football field, and on the 15 ceiling arches were Montyne’s murals. The murals were destroyed in the 1980 MGM Grand fire.
Montyne passed away at the age of 72 and is buried in Las Vegas.
The last standing Montyne sculpture in front on Circus Circus – 2015
Photo by: LasVegas360.com
Circus Circus Hotel & Casino
On this day 44 years ago, Circus Circus opened on October 18, 1968. This circus themed Hotel & Casino has 3,773 room including a indoor 5 acre amusement park called the Adventuredome (formerly known as Grand Slam Canyon).
Circus Circus has the only RV park on the Strip providing additional accommodations in the 399 space park operated by Kampgrounds of America (KOA). Circus Circus Las Vegas is the largest permanent big top in the world.
Happy 44th Birthday!
Photo by: LasVegas360
Our tour of Las Vegas in 1999 continues down the Las Vegas Strip past Spring Mt. Road. This portian of the Strip has seen the biggest changes over the last 10 years. Right on this corner, the construction of the Palazzo, and a complete remodel of the Fashion Show Mall. New resorts sprang up Wynn, and Encore, and some removed and imploded. The following hotels were imploded between 1999-2010 The Desert Inn, Frontier, Stardust, and El Rancho.
Some of this change has not all been good. The Fontainebleau 85% complete went bankrupt and sits empty and partially complete. Where the Stardust stood, is the partially built Echelon Place, rusting away in the desert and the Sahara Hotel just recently closed (2011). On the upside, new non-gaming condos sprang up near the Riviera Hotel area and Donald Trump finally got a Hotel/Condo in Vegas but not a coveted gambling establishment.
On the corner of Spring Mountain Road and the Las Vegas “STRIP”.
The Fashion Show Mall (c. 1999)
The Dive Restaurant at the Fashion Show Mall located at Spring Mountain Road and Las Vegas Blvd.
The Fashion Show Mall looking toward the Frontier Hotel and Casino.
The New Frontier Hotel across the street from the Desert Inn
The Desert Inn
The Desert Inn and the Frontier
The Desert Inn
The Stardust Hotel
The Stardust Hotel
The Stardust Hotel
The Riviera Hotel
The Riviera Hotel & the West Ward Ho
The Riviera Hotel home of the Crazy Girls
The Riviera Hotel & the West Ward Ho, Note: This is a tribute to the Crazy Girls Show ad campaign that was featured on billboards and taxis around Las Vegas, forever immortalized in bronze. (NO “IFs” “Ands” OR…)
The Riviera Hotel across the street from Circus Circus.
Circus Circus
The Algiers across from the Riviera and Circus Circus.
This was the original Thunder Bird Hotel, was renamed to the Silverbird then to the El Rancho (imploded in 2000). Across the street the original El Rancho, the very first hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, opened on April 3, 1941 it was later destroyed by fire in 1960.
This was the Las Vegas’ first water park (Wet and Wild) now closed.
This spot was the where the original El Ranch Hotel & Casino stood. the only thing left here is a few trees- and this photo was taken 40 years after the fire burn it to the ground. The Sahara Hotel, Stratosphere Tower and Wet ‘n Wild stands in the background.
The Sahara Hotel and Casino just closed in 2011 and still looks like this.
Sahara Hotel & Casino
In front of the Sahara Hotel and Casino
On the corner of Sahara and The Strip, Sahara Hotel, Holy Cow Brewery (closed), and the World’s largest Gift Shop (still there)
Up the street, heading north is the base of the Stratosphere Hotel and Casino, once own by a character named Bob Stupak who build the first hotel there called Vegas World.
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