Floor plans for the MGM Grand Hotel high-rise tower rooms and suites. Includes revisions and key plan. Printed on mylar. The MGM Grand Hotel was sold to Bally's Corporation to become Bally's Las Vegas in 1985. Berton Charles Severson, architect; Brian Walter Webb, architect; Remond, delineator; Taylor Construction Co. Site Name: MGM Grand Hotel Address: 3645 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas, NV
Pat Moreo was born in the borough of Queens in New York City. His family moved to the Finger Lakes region when he was ten and he finished grade school and high school in Horseheads. He grew up in a close Italian family watching his mother and his grandparents cook both southern and northern Italian dishes. Pat shares his family history, explaining how his maternal grandfather was originally a tunnel builder but quit that trade to open a luncheonette in New York, own and run apartment buildings, and become the first Pepsi Cola distributor in Queens Other family members ran the Pepsi franchise after his grandfather died. Mr. Moreo graduated from New York City Tech in 1967. He worked that summer at various hotels and restaurants and then decided to get his bachelor's degree in hotel and culinary work. He and several friends applied to Oklahoma State and were accepted, but were convinced at the last moment to apply at UNLV. They were accepted as students by Jerry Vallen, the new chair, and arrived in Las Vegas on Labor Day weekend. Coming from New York to Las Vegas in September of 1967 was like landing on Mars Pat describes in detail the heat, the small campus, and the supportive staff at UNLV. People like Jerry Vallen, Boyce Phillips, George Bussel, and Bruce Balton made the newcomers feel welcome, inviting them into their homes and making sure they were comfortable. Pat lived in Tonopah Hall and found work in the student union while working on his degree. After graduation in 1969, Pat went on to work for Harris Kerr Forster and Company (now PKF Consulting) and traveled for them all around California. After a stint in the Naval Reserves, he worked for Howard Johnson Company in NYC, and at the same time completed his master's degree at Cornell University. In 1975 he returned to UNLV as an instructor, earned a PhD in Ed Administration under George Kavina and went on to work at Penn State and New Mexico State. Pat returned to UNLV in 2006 to head the hotel/culinary department and is working with faculty and staff to make revitalizing changes. He expresses his opinions about the importance of food in every culture, explains his position on making people feel welcome, and shares his thoughts on what the future holds for Harrah's College of Hotel Administration.
Robert Gore first came to Las Vegas in 1973 as a public affairs officer with the Air Force. He returned to West Virginia to go into the family business in 1976 and four years later was offered a job with Summa Corporation. Back in Las Vegas, he also served as director of the Air Force Association. At a dinner meeting of the Association, Retired General Bill Becker suggested that an engineering school was needed at UNLV. Bob and the Air Force Association put together a group called FORGE, whose primary purpose was to promote a school of engineering. Bob Gore, Dave Broxterman, John Heilman and others began researching the idea of building an engineering school. They drew the interest of people at the Test Site, Nellis Air Force Base, and PEPCON, and put together a slide show and a binder full of research data. Bob and Dave presented their information to the Nevada Development Authority and Nevada legislators, and started a grassroots campaign to enlist the support of the people of Nevada. Bob gives details on the efforts that FORGE and many other individuals made on behalf of the engineering school. He takes readers into the myriad meetings that were held and the important associations that were forged with people like Tom Beam Lawrence Livermore Laboratories, the DOE, Jim Cashman, Mary Hausch of the Las Vegas Review Journal, Channel 3, Bob Thomas, and numerous others. The interviewer, Dr. David Emerson, was involved in this effort as well, and shares anecdotes concerning donations from a mining company and Reynolds Electrical and Engineering Company. Today Bob is working with a real estate company in Las Vegas. Twenty-some years later, he still recalls the hard work and dedication of people like Benet Stout, on loan from Senator Chic Hecht's staff, the legislators who unanimously cosponsored the bill initiating the building project, and the original FORGE group who gave their all to the idea of a school of engineering at UNLV.