EDITOR’S NOTE: “Vegas Myths Busted” publishes each Monday, with a bonus Flashback Friday version. Right this moment’s entry in our ongoing collection initially ran on Nov. 11, 2022.
A well-liked fable has resurfaced for the reason that LINQ Resort changed the Imperial Palace on the Las Vegas Strip in 2014 — that the latter was formed like a swastika as a result of its builder-owner was a Nazi sympathizer.
Imperial Palace builder/proprietor Ralph Engelstad, proven in an undated press convention picture, did many good issues in his profession, and one very dangerous factor. (Picture: reviewjournal.com)
Oh, the Nazi sympathizer half was true, although Ralph Engelstad denied it, and it was by no means confirmed by any authorities entity. However that’s solely as a result of the hotelier agreed to pay $1.5 million to the Nevada Gaming Management Board (NGCB) in 1989 — then its second-highest wonderful ever — for “damaging Nevada’s picture by glorifying Hitler and the Third Reich.”
Engelstad additionally agreed to 9 restrictions on his gaming license to keep away from a full-blown inquiry that might have resulted in its revocation.
Based on a never-retracted 1988 New York Instances article, Engelstad used his on line casino lodge to throw birthday events for Adolf Hitler on April 20, 1986, and 1988. They celebrated what would have been the genocidal dictator’s 97th and 99th birthdays.
The Hitler bashes have been thrown in Engelstad’s “warfare room,” a secret, 3,000 square-foot Imperial Palace lair embellished with Nazi memorabilia, murals of Hitler, and a portray of Engelstad wearing full Nazi uniform. Oh yeah, and, in accordance with the Instances, the events have been staffed by bartenders in T-shirts studying “Adolf Hitler: European tour 1939-45.”
Engelstad claimed his curiosity in Hitler was purely historic and that the festivities have been simply “theme” events to spice up worker morale. The gaming authority didn’t see it that manner. Based on the Instances, their investigation additionally turned up a printing plate used to make a whole bunch of bumper stickers bearing the phrases “Hitler Was Proper.”
Based on a never-retracted 2005 article on Deadspin.com, one visitor of the 1988 Hitler celebration claimed that Engelstad “pressured some Jewish staff to return towards their needs. He wished one Jew to chop the cake, however the individual ducked out. Ralph ran round looking for him.”
Delusion Understanding
This aerial view of the Imperial Palace is a myth-buster. (Picture: trivago.com)
The parable of the swastika-shaped Imperial Palace, which, frankly, by no means appeared so outlandish, contemplating what occurred contained in the constructing, just about ended with the arrival of Google Earth in 2005.
Whereas the on line casino lodge had swastika-like angles, aerial pictures clearly confirmed no distinct resemblance to a swastika or some other identified image.
However the fable has resurfaced for the reason that Imperial Palace was imploded, and that’s one other fable as a result of it wasn’t imploded. It was presupposed to be, however then the Nice Recession hit, and Harrah’s (now Caesars), the debt-plagued firm that bought the lodge from the Engelstad household in 2005, opted to construct the LINQ over the bones of the Imperial Palace as a substitute.
So, when considered from above, the present lodge retains the previous lodge’s precise, non-swastika form as we speak.
Taking the Good with the Unhealthy
Engelstad did a whole lot of good for Las Vegas. He constructed up the Imperial Palace, initially the Flamingo Capri, from 650 to 2,700 rooms, and reopened it in 1979. He additionally co-developed the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He donated generously to charity. His contributions included $104 million to construct a hockey area at his alma mater, the College of North Dakota.
And he was by no means convicted of a criminal offense, and even introduced up on costs, in reference to the scandal.
Engelstad later denounced Hitler and apologized to the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas for his “error in judgment.” He known as the events he threw for his staff on Hitler’s birthday “silly, insensitive, and held in dangerous style.”
Engelstad died of most cancers in 2002. Two arenas, the one at his alma mater in Grand Forks, ND, and a second in Thief River Falls, Minn., nonetheless bear his identify.
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