Abstract
The UNLV Libraries Collection of Riviera Hotel and Casino Promotional and Press Materials dates from 1956 to 2005 and consists primarily of press releases from the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada during the 1990s. The collection also contains promotional brochures, press kits, event programs, and news clippings.
Finding Aid PDF
Date
Extent
Related People/Corporations
Scope and Contents Note
The UNLV Libraries Collection of Riviera Hotel and Casino Promotional and Press Materials dates from 1956 to 2005 and consists primarily of press releases from the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada during the 1990s. The collection also contains promotional brochures, press kits, event programs, and news clippings. This collection contains items previously described as "Promotional and publicity material: Riviera Hotel and Casino."
Access Note
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Arrangement
Materials remain as they were received.
Biographical / Historical Note
The Riviera Hotel and Casino originally opened as the Casa Blanca Hotel in 1952 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Casa Blanca was owned by William Bischoff, who built the resort for 3.5 million dollars. Granted a gaming license in 1952, Bischoff withdrew his application the following year and turned over operations to Miami investor Samuel Cohen. By early 1955, Cohen had also withdrawn from the project, leaving other investors, including Harpo and Gummo Marx, to open the hotel as the Riviera in April of 1955. Within three months of opening, the hotel was bankrupt, and control went to managers of the Flamingo, including Gus Greenbaum. Greenbaum ran the Riviera for three years, until he and his wife were murdered in their Scottsdale, Arizona home.
After the Greenbaums' deaths, the vice-president of the Riviera, Ben Goffstein, took over as president. The Riviera was sold multiple times and filed for bankruptcy in 1983, 1991, and 2010. In 2015, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) purchased the Riviera with plans to use the property as an extension of the Las Vegas Convention Center. The hotel and casino officially closed May 3, 2015 after sixty years of operation, and was imploded in August of 2016.
Source:
"The Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas." Accessed December 14, 2018. https://www.rivierahotel.com/
Preferred Citation
UNLV Libraries Collection of Riviera Hotel and Casino Promotional and Press Materials, 1956-2005. MS-00943. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were acquired periodically by UNLV Special Collections and Archives from a variety of sources; accession number 2019-057.
Processing Note
In 2019, as part of an archival backlog elimination project, Hana Gutierrez compiled the materials from multiple sources that included subject files and previously cataloged material, and wrote the finding aid.