While offering anecdotes on Southwest Gas Company’s early years—including its flirtation with a nuclear bomb and owning a casino; its purchase of a Kingman, Arizona, ranch with an underground salt dome, and its involvement with the formation of Boyd Gaming—this oral history also reveals Bill Jr.’s role in applying his knowledge of natural gas infrastructure to promote extensive education about building codes, infrastructure, and engineered systems. In particular, Bill discusses EduCode, the internationally recognized, week-long building code institute held annually in Las Vegas that originally began more than twenty-five years ago and has since attracted worldwide participation. While Bill does not teach at the institute, he has helped organize the course since its inception and has been a consistent supporter.
Oral history interview with Mary M. Laub and Bill Laub, Jr. conducted by Stefani Evans and Claytee White on September 15, 2017 for the Building Las Vegas Oral History Project. Mary and Bill Jr. recall their Southwest Gas Company in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bill Jr. discusses the natural gas and propane delivery systems in Clark County, Nevada and the MGM and Hilton Hotel fires.