Irwin Kishner (1933 ? 2017) was a noted real estate developer, attorney and longtime community leader. In this oral history interview conducted in 2013, he briefly shares his childhood growing up Jewish in Brighton Beach area of Brooklyn, New York. He often speaks of himself in the third person, as he brings to life his roots, his family?s move to Miami where he graduated from high school and the tale of his relocation to Las Vegas to work with his uncles Herman and Maury Kishner. He describes his entrance to Las Vegas as that of a bon vivant. And truly, Irwin, fell in love with the city from the moment he arrived in 1960. Irwin was a graduate of University of Florida (1954) and University of Miami Law School (1958). Both his daughters, Sharon and Joanna, were born in Las Vegas and he reminisces about becoming a Jewish bachelor father to them. In June 2013, shortly before this interview, Irwin celebrated his 80th birthday. He was a proud father, grandfather and energetic businessman who left an indelible mark on everyone he knew. As a developer, he was known for the Somerset Apartments, Somerset House Motel, Somerset Gardens apartment complex, and the Somerset Shopping Center. He enjoyed reflecting on the many community organizations he dedicated himself to, from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to Opportunity Village to the original Las Vegas Rotary Club to the Community Concert Association?and that?s just to mention a few.

Includes meeting minutes and agenda.

The Palm Piazza sign sits at 1919 Fremont Street in Downtown Las Vegas. Information about the sign is available in the Southern Nevada Neon Survey Sheet.
Site address: 1919 Fremont St
Sign owner: Zen Real Estate Holding
Sign details: This building dates back to 1936 and was made for commercial living accommodations/ deluxe motel. Previous to the Palm Piazza opening this location was called the Ariza Motel which was abandoned for a few years. Kamran Foulad in 2013 purchased this building to renovate it in an effort to revitalize downtown. The Palm Piazza opened as an apartment complex in late 2013.
Sign condition: 4- slight fading but still in good condition
Sign form: Pylon
Sign-specific description: There is a black base of the sign that is not very tall which holds a back lit plastic sign that has an image of a lady under a palm-tree leaf canopy and the location's phone number in black numbers. Above this is a blue steel backing that in the shape of a sideways trapezoid which is about half of the width of the black sign beneath it (and is laid on the building side of the sign). This portion has black back lit plastic letters that spell out "The Palm Piazza" in a bubbly cursive font towards the top of the sign. Then below this in yellow skeletal neon tubes they have "Luxury Living" spelled out in a thin tight cursive font. On the road side of the sign there is an arrow blue steel arrow that points down towards the black portion of the sign. The arrow is outlined in yellow neon tubes and has "Enjoy Las Vegas" in clear print font skeletal neon tubes.
Sign - type of display: Neon and back lit plastic signs
Sign - media: Steel and plastic
Sign - non-neon treatments: Plastic portion of the sign
Sign environment: This area is located East Fremont close to Bruce Street. There are other motels surrounding this area.
Sign - date of installation: This sign has been up in form that we see today in 2013, though it looks as though they re-purposed/redesigned the sign that the Ariza Motel (previous property name) had. The previous sign has been up since at least 2007.
Sign - date of redesign/move: 2013- Ariza Motel blade taken down and the rest of the sign redesigned for the Palm Piazza.
Sign - thematic influences: Previous to the apartment complex it was a motel and their signs still has remnants of that 1950/60's motel sign design particularly with the arrow.
Survey - research locations: Assessor's Page, Review Journal article discussing the renovation of the building https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/developer-eyeing-overlooked-las-vegas-downtown-area-gets-city-boost/, Google map sattelite/ roadside view
Survey - research notes: On the top portion of the blue steel sign there are 3 short black steel beams coming out of it which used to hold an old MOTEL blade sign which was taken down around 2013.
Surveyor: Emily Fellmer
Survey - date completed: 2017-09-09
Sign keywords: Neon; Backlit; Plastic; Steel; Pole sign