As of today, the legendary Stardust is closed. After forty-eight years, the Las Vegas Strip is without one of its most storied names. But how do you close down a casino? The LV Sun tells us:
Tony Taeubel, until recently the general manager of the Stardust, can reel off the names of many of the historic property’s longtime employees, casino games and property quirks, such as the time capsule buried somewhere beneath the parking lot decades ago that still hasn’t been found.
But there was a lot more he didn’t know about the property he has run for nearly three years and which closes today. So now, acting like a conservator for a dead heiress who needs to auction off a clutter-filled estate, Taeubel will be overseeing a public auction Nov. 17-21 to sell nearly everything of value at the late Stardust.
It has taken him about a year to get his hands around the challenge, cataloging each of the property’s more than 70,000 items.
“I’ve opened two properties but I’ve never closed one before,” said Taeubel, who ran casinos in the Midwest and South before joining the Stardust in January 2004.
For those wanting to know where old casino tables, lounge chairs and cocktail glasses go to die, the answer will become clear later this month. They will be shuffled into the mix of property that will go on the auction block, starting with the most treasured memorabilia such as signs and games, then shifting to the finer furnishings, artwork, chandeliers and to the rest of the memorabilia. The nitty-gritty items with no collectible value will go after that, including hotel-room furniture, kitchen equipment and lighting.
Slot machines are off-limits: State law prevents the public from buying the machines . Parent company Boyd Gaming Corp. will distribute the slots among existing properties, mostly in Las Vegas, and will sell the remainder to slot distribution companies that do business in Nevada.
There’s also a conversation with Bill Boyd that you should take a look at. Looking over some of the old financial reports a few months ago, I saw several references to the proposed expansion of the Stardust in the 1990s. It would have basically added two or three more 1000-room hotel towers to the casino–sort of the same thing that Tropicana did. While it’s sad to see the Stardust go, I’m sure the stockholders are glad that Echelon Place is going up.
While the Stardust name will no longer be part of the site, it would be a nice touch to have a Stardust lounge or something along those lines.
I stopped by the Stardust for one last gambol around the property yesterday. There was a definite pall hanging over the place. Like they say, it’s the end of an era.