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Inspire Theater Neon Survey document, August 18, 2017
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Site address: 107 S Las Vegas Blvd
Sign owner: Fremont LV Blvd LLC
Sign details: The original construction year of the building dates back to 1952. Though in 2013 the building was redesigned to open as the Inspire theater in 2014. The Inspire Theater offers a variety of venues including a 150 seated theater, a rooftop patio and multiple cocktail bars.
Sign condition: 5 - new sign with good quality day and night
Sign form: Blade and semi-decorated shed
Sign-specific description: The sign itself is all connected though it wraps around the whole building, it starts with a long rectangular blade with their logo then goes in a rectangle around the building and ends with their logo on a shorter blade with their logo. The longer white rectangular blade portion begins on the corner of the building above their rooftop lounge (which meets together back to back with a smaller rectangular blade). If you are going north on Las Vegas Blvd you will see the big blade which reads "INSPIRE" in channeled silver thin print font letters. The adjacent blade is a bit shorter, so you can see a portion of the big blade over the smaller one if you are looking at the building from the East Fremont District, with this overlay it looks like there is a letter "I" and a dash(-) underneath it. On the actual portion of the shorter blade there are the "INSPIRE" thin channeled font letters, which are identical in design to the other side of the sign but just a smaller font. The outside edges of these back-back signs are horizontally lined with neon tubing. These blades then continue around the building into two horizontally neon lined strips that make the building have a decorated shed feature to it. This then makes a rectangular feature around the whole building. In between the top of the rectangle and the bottom, there is a balcony where guests can hang out. Though on both the left and the right sides of the blade there are plasma screens that show advertisements for their property. Also on the west side of the building there are thin horizontal strips of LED/plasma lights that sparkle in an iridescent fashion.
Sign - type of display: Neon
Sign - media: Steel
Sign - non-neon treatments: T.V. screens, LED
Sign animation: Flasher and iridescent light flow
Sign environment: On the corner of South Las Vegas Blvd. and Fremont St. East, the first property on the south side of the Fremont St East District.
Sign - date of installation: 2014
Sign - thematic influences: The sign is incorporated into the architecture, as well as the sign wraps around the entire building which is remnant of the decorated shed look. The sign is related to the theater theme since the blade style sign was very prominent for the 1950's and 60's movie theater signs, such as the El Portal movie theater sign.
Sign - artistic significance: Their sign is very remnant of a 1950's Movie theater sign with the blade and wrap around of Neon, since they are a modern day theater it seems as if it's a retro throwback.
Survey - research locations: Inspire website, assessor's website
Surveyor: Emily Fellmer
Survey - date completed: 2017-08-18
Sign keywords: Blade; Neon; Steel; LED; Flashing; Video screen
Text
Cecia Alvarado oral history interview: transcript
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Oral history interview with Cecia Alvarado conducted by Barbara Tabach on September 15, 2020 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Cecia describes her personal history, moving to the United States as a teen in the year 2000. She talks of immigration, education, and her work as the State Director of "Mi Familia Vota."
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Photographs of Desert Moon Motel sign, Las Vegas (Nev.), April 18, 2017
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Site name: Desert Moon Motel (Las Vegas, Nev.)
Site address: 1701 Fremont St
Sign owner: Jerzy and Celina Kosla
Sign details: The building was constructed in 1942 (Assessor). According to one commentator, the Desert Moon motel opened on the site in 1952 (Roadside Architecture.com). The cars on a vintage postcard of the motel appear to date from the late 1940's or early 1950's (Ebay). The same vintage postcard (Ebay) shows the motel as a member of United Motor Courts, an early motel referral chain founded in 1933 which published a travel guide until the early 1950's (Wikipedia). Based in Santa Barbara, California, United Motor Courts was made up of "a friendly group of independent owners of motor lodges..." (Historic Highways). The Quality Inn motel franchise was a spinoff of United Motor Courts (Wikipedia). The motel has been renovated by its current owner, Polish immigrant George (Jerzy) Kosla (Glionna, 2017).
Sign condition: The sign is Condition 4, good. The paint appears slightly faded but there is no flaking or peeling. The cabinets, reader boards, and fiberglass moon are all in good condition. The neon is intact.
Sign form: Pole sign
Sign-specific description: The sign pole and metal cabinets are painted pink. The design and lettering are the same on both sides of the sign. The trapezoid-shaped lower cabinet extends horizontally toward the street. It contains a rectangular white plastic lightbox which states "FREE ADULT MOVIES" in red sans serif letters and "FLAT SCREEN TV'S in smaller black san serif letters. To the left of the letters is the black silhouette of a female figure. On the metal below the plastic screen are clear sans serif neon letters which spell out, "NO VACANCY" in red when illuminated. The upper metal cabinet hangs from the street side of the pole. White painted san serif letters, covered by clear sans serif neon letters which glow red when illuminated, run vertically down the cabinet to spell out, "XXX MOVIES". Five metal cabinets attached to the street side of the sign run vertically to spell out, "M-O- T-E- L" in white painted sans serif letters covered by yellow sans serif neon letters. On top of the pole is a white p
Sign - type of display: Neon, Lightbox
Sign - media: Steel, Plastic, Fiberglass
Sign - non-neon treatments: Lightbox
Sign environment: East Fremont Street, surrounded by other motels.
Sign - date of installation: c. 1950s
Sign - date of redesign/move: The now pink or faded red sign cabinets were painted blue in a 2003 photograph
Sign - thematic influences: Desert, Space Age, Western
Sign - artistic significance: The current sign appears to have taken the Western/Lunar theme from the previous sign and transformed it into a 1950's/1960's Space Age/Lunar theme
Survey - research locations: Assessor's website
Survey - research notes: Ebay. Las Vegas NV Desert Moon Motel roadside Nevada vintage linen postcard ca 1940s. Retrieved from https://picclick.com/LAS-VEGAS- NV-Desert- Moon-Motel- Roadside-Nevada- 141923576051.html Glionna, J. M. (2017 April 23). Motel, once a haven, now a crime-ridden jungle in downtown Las Vegas. Las Vegas Review Journal. Retrieved https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las- vegas/downtown/motel-once- a-haven- now-a- crime-ridden- jungle-in- downtown-las- vegas/ Historic Highways. (2007 July 14). Archive for the "Motel Associations" category: Looking for a motel in 1933. Retrieved from https://historichighways.wordpress.com/category/motel-associations/ Roadside Architecture. com (n.d.). Las Vegas Signs: Desert Moon Motel. Retrieved from http://www.roadarch.com/signs/nvvegas.html RoadsidPeek.com. (n.d.). Downtown motels Las Vegas: Desert Moon Motel. Retrieved from http://www.roadsidepeek.com/roadusa/southwest/nevada/vegas/lvmotel/lvdownmotel/index5.htm Wikipedia. (n.d.). Motel: 2.6 R
Survey - other remarks: A postcard circa early 1950's features a different sign with a saguaro cactus and quarter moon (Ebay). The current sign appears to have taken the Western/Lunar theme from the previous sign and transformed it into a Space Age/Lunar theme, which may indicate that the sign dates from the date from the late 1950's or 1960's.
Surveyor: Mitchell Cohen
Survey - date completed: 2017-08-22
Sign keywords: Neon; Steel; Plastic; Fiberglass; Pole sign; Light box; Sculptural
Mixed Content
Angela Castro oral history interview: transcript
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Oral history interview with Angela Castro conducted by Stefani Evans, Cecilia Winchell, Kristel Peralta, Vanessa Concepcion, and Ayrton Yamaguchi on November 05, 2020 for the Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Castro begins the interview by talking about her early life, childhood, what Guam was like, and the history of her parents and grandparents. She describes the difference in public and private education in Guam and compares it to the United States. She explains the reason why she moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1998 and attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for public relations. Castro then talks about the differences between older and newer generations, the political atmosphere in Guam, and the differences between the United States and Guam in politics. She also talks about the discrimination she has experienced throughout her life and diversity in the workplace. Lastly, she describes her culture and traditions during holidays, the struggles with an absence of culture within her family, and her personal religious beliefs.
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Transcript of interview with Ernest Jackson Jr. by Larry E. Cooper, March 1, 1980
Date
Archival Collection
Description
On March 1, 1980, Larry E. Cooper interviewed general contractor Ernest (Ernie) Jackson Junior (born December 6th, 1932 in Bruce, Mississippi) in Cooper’s home about his experiences in the Westside as a Black Las Vegas resident. Jackson Jr. discusses the lack of property buyers on the Westside and his goals of improving the Westside by building on the land. Jackson Jr. also discusses his youth as a baseball star for Las Vegas High School in the fifties.
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Christine Szukala oral history interview: transcript
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Oral history interview with Christine Szukala conducted by Bridgette Foote on November 12, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Christine shares her family history and the story of her Thai mother and American Air Force father who met in Thailand and married before moving to the United States in 1970. She talks about her upbringing in Las Vegas, Nevada near Nellis Air Force base with her six siblings. Christine discusses her beliefs of how her newly immigrated mother adapted to American life, including altering her recipes to fit her husband's taste and reducing her visits to nearby Buddhist temples.
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Roen, Allard, 1921-2008
Allard Frank Roen, age 87, of La Costa in Carlsbad, CA passed away on Thursday, August 28, 2008, succumbing to complications of heart disease. He was born May 8, 1921, in Cleveland, Ohio, and was a resident of La Costa for 41 years. Allard graduated Duke University in 1943 with a degree in business. He served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy from 1943 thru 1946; participating in the Gilbert Islands and Okinawa campaigns. Following his discharge in 1946, Allard worked in Palm Beach, Florida, as a hotel contractor and builder.
Person