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In Hollywood, he befriended celebrities, including silver screen legends Cary Grant and Clark Gable. He also started an extramarital affair with a starlet, the actress Virginia Hill, the woman who would later become his partner-in-crime in Las VegaTHE HISTORY OF THE FLAMINGO HOTEL: PRE-CONSTRUCTIONStrip. Wilkerson hoped to establish a kind of Sunset Strip in Vegas: an opulent, European-styled hotel, complete with a spa, health club, golf course, nightclub, showroom, and restaurant. The mogul couldn’t realize his dream alone, though, as World War II’s fallout drove up the cost of building materials shortly after the war. Wilkerson bled his bank account dry.Enter Bugsy.In 1945, Bugsy Siegel, fueled by his interests in gambling and betting, moved to Las Vegas with Virginia Hill. He sought a gambling empire of his own in the nascent city.At the time, Vegas was not the center of tourism and entertainment it is now, but a mostly quiet, traditionally “western” town. Siegel’s vision would help change Vegas, even if, in his mortal life, he never got to see his impact on the city.Prior to the Flamingo, he’d pursued another property, The El Cortez hotel. He purchased the El Cortez for $600,000. He sold the hotel for a $166,000 profit. This effort was the first inauspicious omen of Siegel’s time in Vegas. Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t the last.Undeterred, Siegel and his organized crime “associates” from New York funneled the Cortez profit into wooing Wilkerson. Wilkerson caved, allowing his new “partners” to join in the project. Siegel overtook the project and the supervision of its construction.

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During this time, the Flamingo received its unique name, directly from Siegel. “The Flamingo” referred to Siegel’s girlfriend Virginia Hill, whose nickname was “The Flamingo” due to her long legs and red hair.Initially, the resort’s construction was budgeted at $1.5 million. Despite this estimate, the construction costs skyrocketed. The actual building costs mysteriously rose to over $6 million. Construction still proceeded, and the Flamingo was ready to be opened by 1946.THE HISTORY OF THE FLAMINGO HOTEL: GRAND OPENINGThe Flamingo grand opening invitation, 1946. Photo source: HumanisticRationale at English Wikipedia. The Flamingo grand opening invitation, 1946. Photo source: HumanisticRationale at English Wikipedia.With a glamorous grand opening, Bugsy Siegel opened the Flamingo on December 26, 1946. The new resort was a shining beacon in the desert. The opening event featured entertainment by singer and comedian Jimmy Durante and Cuban bandleader Xavier Cugat. Some of his famous friends reportedly attended the occasion, such as actors Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, and George Sanders.Despite the grandeur and glitzy guest list, the Flamingo’s inaugural event was a failure. In what would prove to be a sign of things to come, the weather in Vegas that day was unusually bad. The weather was bad enough that it prevented all invited Hollywood notables from attending the event. To worsen matters, the casino, restaurant, and showroom were open for business, but the hotel wasn’t.