Skip to main content

Search the Special Collections and Archives Portal

Bob Stupak Professional Papers (MS-01016)

Abstract

The Bob Stupak Professional Papers (approximately 1900 to 2007) primarily documents the career of Las Vegas, Nevada casino owner, Bob Stupak. The materials in the collection include the planning of two resorts in Las Vegas, Nevada created by Bob Stupak: Vegas World and the Stratosphere. The collection also includes planning materials for the Titanic Las Vegas, an unbuilt resort envisioned by Stupak. Planning and promotional materials for Stupak's resorts including photographs, memorabilia, audiovisual materials, advertising mockups, and architectural drawings. The collection includes several scrapbooks and photographs of Stupak and his wife Sandy at events around Las Vegas. The materials also document Stupak's political campaigns running for mayor of Las Vegas in 1983 and 1987 and lieutenant governor of Nevada in 2006.

Finding Aid PDF

Date

bulk 1970 to 2000
1900 to 2007

Extent

57.77 Cubic Feet (52 boxes, 11 oversized boxes, 1 roll, and 18 flat files)
105.86 Linear Feet
65 digital_files (3.400 GB) VOB, DAT, DOC

Related People/Corporations

Creator: Stupak, Bob

Scope and Contents Note

The Bob Stupak Professional Papers (approximately 1900 to 2007) primarily documents the career of Las Vegas, Nevada casino owner, Bob Stupak. The materials in the collection include the planning of two resorts in Las Vegas created by Bob Stupak: Vegas World and the Stratosphere. The collection also includes planning materials for the Titanic Las Vegas, an unbuilt resort envisioned by Stupak. Planning and promotional materials for Stupak's resorts including photographs, memorabilia, audiovisual materials, advertising mock-ups, and architectural drawings. The collection includes several scrapbooks and photographs of Stupak and his wife Sandy at various events around Las Vegas. The collection also includes materials documenting Stupak's career beyond the casino industry, including storyboards and drafts of his screenplay Bloody Mary. The materials also document Stupak's political campaigns running for mayor of Las Vegas in 1983 and 1987 and lieutenant governor of Nevada in 2006. Other materials in this collection document the political campaigns of Stupak's children, Nicole and Nevada, as well as singer Phyllis McGuire who was in a relationship with Stupak in the 1990s.

Access Note

Collection is open for research. Arrangements must be made in advance to access digital files; please contact UNLV Special Collections and Archives for additional information.

Publication Rights

This material is made available to facilitate private study, scholarship, or research. The donor of the collection, Nevada Stupak, transferred all right, title and interest they had in the Bob Stupak Professional Papers (MS-01016) to UNLV. However, the material may be protected by copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity rights, or other interests not owned by UNLV. Users are responsible for determining whether permissions are necessary from rights owners for any intended use and for obtaining all required permissions. Acknowledgement of the UNLV University Libraries is requested. For more information, please see the UNLV Special Collections policies on reproductions and use or contact us at special.collections@unlv.edu.

Arrangement

Materials are organized into two series:

Series I. Professional papers, approximately 1900-2007;

Series II. Personal papers, 1942-2006.

Biographical / Historical Note

Bob Stupak (1942-2009) was a casino owner who built two major resorts in Las Vegas, Nevada: Bob Stupak's Vegas World and the Stratosphere. Stupak first opened the Million Dollar Historic Gambling Museum & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1973. When the museum burned down, Stupak decided to build Bob Stupak's Vegas World in 1974, a space-themed casino. Vegas World closed in 1994, and the remaining buildings and property location where used to create his next venture: the Stratosphere. The Stratosphere, built in 1994, is a 1,149 foot building that is the tallest building in the state of Nevada and the tallest freestanding observation tower in the United States. In 1999, he began planning for a new Titanic-themed resort, but the plan was ultimately not approved by the Las Vegas City Council.

Stupak also participated in local politics. He ran two campaigns for mayor of Las Vegas in 1983 and 1987, as well as a campaign for lieutenant governor of Nevada in 2006. Stupak died from leukemia in 2009 at the age of 67.

Sources:

Koch, Ed and Mary Manning, "Bob Stupak, builder of Stratosphere and Vegas World, dies at 67," Las Vegas Sun, September 25, 2009. Accessed March 5, 2021. https://lasvegassun.com/news/2009/sep/25/bob-stupak-builder-stratosphere-and-vegas-world-di/

Stutz, Howard, "The World according to Stupak," Las Vegas-Review Journal, July 30, 2014. Accessed March 5, 2021. https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/the-world-according-to-stupak/.

Preferred Citation

Bob Stupak Professional Papers, approximately 1900-2007. MS-01016. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.

Acquisition Note

Materials were donated in 2020 by Nevada Stupak; accession number 2020-015.

Processing Note

In 2020, Tammi Kim reboxed materials, foldered loose items, and wrote the finding aid in ArchivesSpace. In 2021, Sarah Jones processed the collection, wrote the finding aid, and entered the data into ArchivesSpace. In 2023, select materials were shipped to an external vendor for digitization. Vendor staff inspected, cleaned, and reformatted physical items into digital files with both preservation (.mov/.wav) and access copies (.mp4/.mp3). In 2024, UNLV SCA staff ingested the files, reviewed for content and quality, and created summaries of each item. Physical items were retained once returned from the vendor. See “Digitized audiovisual materials” series for more information on the grant project and availability of digital files.

Resource Type

Papers

Collection Type

EAD ID

US::NVLN::MS01016

Finding Aid Description Rules

Describing Archives: A Content Standard
English