page_title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)
section_title: Opening and ownership changes
hierarchical_section_title: Aladdin (hotel and casino) / History / Aladdin (1966–1998) / Opening and ownership changes
caption_attribution_description: English: Neil Diamond opens the Aladdin Theater for the performing Arts July 2nd 1976
context_page_description: The Aladdin was a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. Toy manufacturer Edwin S. Lowe originally opened the 450-room Tallyho Hotel on the property in 1962. The Tallyho was the only major hotel in Nevada to not include a casino; it closed at the end of the year and was sold to Kings Crown Inns of America, a hotel chain which reopened the property a month later as the King's Crown Tallyho. The company added a casino and showroom but plans to open the casino were halted when the Nevada Gaming Control Board declined to issue a gambling license because of concerns about the resort being inadequately financed.
  Milton Prell purchased the hotel and began an extensive $3 million renovation of the property before reopening it as the Aladdin on April 1, 1966. A 19-story hotel tower was added in 1976. After various ownership changes, the Aladdin was closed in 1997 and demolished the following year to make room for a new Aladdin resort that opened in 2000.
context_section_description: The resort opened as Milton Prell's Aladdin at midnight on April 1, 1966, becoming the first major resort to open on the Las Vegas Strip in nine years. The Aladdin included the largest casino on the Las Vegas Strip and the 500-seat Bagdad Theatre. People present at the grand opening included Prell and his wife, as well as County Commission Chairman William H. Briare, Las Vegas mayor Oran K. Gragson, and Las Vegas Sun publisher Hank Greenspun. The Aladdin, located on 35 acres (14 ha), included a golf course and five dining facilities. A week after opening, the sign for the Dunes casino welcomed the Aladdin and wished the new resort "good luck." The Aladdin was considered one of the most luxurious resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, although profits were usually low. Construction of the high-rise hotel addition was scheduled to begin in October 1966.
  In September 1966, nine people – including Prell's daughter Sheila – were approved to invest $287,500 for a combined 11.5 percent interest in the Aladdin. At the end of 1966, Prell stopped making payments to the trusts, stating he could not afford the overall $10 million sale price. The trusts agreed to reduce the sale price to $5 million, and Prell's purchase of the property was completed on February 9, 1967. Prell Hotel Corporation was the new owner. 
  In May 1967, the Aladdin was host to Elvis and Priscilla Presley's wedding.
  In 1968, MK Investment Corporation made a failed offer to purchase the Aladdin. Renovations totaling $750,000 were completed in August 1969, which included making the Sinbad Lounge enclosed and leveled above the casino floor with Arabic motif.
  In 1969, Parvin Dohrmann Corporation took over the Aladdin, and the company was renamed as Recrion Corporation. In February 1971, a group led by Las Vegas resident Walter Gardner agreed to purchase the Aladdin at a cost of $16.5 million. The sale was to be completed once the new owners received licensing to operate the Aladdin's casino. Recrion's agreement with Gardner required that the sale be completed by May 15, 1971. Gardner was a former executive at the Binion's Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas, and his group included six unnamed investors. In May 1971, Recrion granted the group an extension in order to raise the money to complete the purchase. The deal was cancelled later in the month after Gardner failed to make the purchase, which resulted in Recrion filing a $250,000 suit against Gardner.
  By the end of 1971, Recrion was planning a $5 million sale of the Aladdin, which would help pay off the resort's debts. The Aladdin was sold to Sam Diamond, St. Louis politicians Peter Webbe and Sorkis Webbe, and St. Louis attorney Richard L. Daly for $5 million. The new owners announced plans for the $25 million, 24-story, 800-room Regency Tower, to be built adjacent to the Aladdin and expected to be opened in late 1973. Under the new owners, a $60 million face lift was conducted, including the addition of a 17-story tower and the new 7,500-seat Performing Arts Center replacing the golf course, which was $4 million over budget.
  Construction began on the 19 story "Tower of Majesty" in May 1975. It was designed by Lee Linton, and built by the Del E. Webb Corporation. The tower opened on June 1, 1976.
  A $250,000 porte-cochere continued the tower's arabesques. The Aladdin added a new $300,000 140-foot (43 m) blockbuster sign with little neon, huge attraction panels and none of the arabesque of the Aladdin's original sign. The Aladdin celebrated the grand opening of their new "Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts" with singer Neil Diamond being paid $650,000 for four shows; July 2 through July 5, 1976. In 1981, heavy metal band Iron Maiden played at the Aladdin – it was their first ever concert in America.
  In August 1979, several individuals were convicted by a Detroit Federal Jury of conspiring to allow hidden owners to exert control over the resort, and the Nevada Gaming Commission then closed the hotel.
  The resort was sold to Wayne Newton and Ed Torres in 1980 for $85 million, snubbing an offer from comedian Johnny Carson. 
caption: Neil Diamond performing at the Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts on July 2, 1976
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