The Stardust Hotel and Casino opened its doors July 2nd, 1958, set standards for other hotels, and became one of the largest in the world. It was made famous by its mobbed past and was in the 1995 movie “Casino,” which was based off of research from Nicholas Pileggi that he made into a book about Frank Rosenthal who ran the hotel for years as a mobster.

Far ahead of his time when it came to creating hotels, Tony Cornero founded the Stardust Hotel and Casino and transformed the nightlife on the Las Vegas strip. Being unable to see his hotel open, Tony passed away in 1955. He wanted to build the hotel to attract middle income individuals who could not afford other places like the Desert Inn Las Vegas Hotel, the same place where he had a heart attack and died at a craps table.

His good friend, John Factor, finished the hotel after it sat empty for two years due to lack of money. The Stardust stayed open until it closed its doors for good; then demolished on November 1, 2006.

The Echelon will sit on 87 acres where the Stardust, Budget and Westward Ho Suites once stood. The new 5,300 room mixed-use complex, at a cost of 4.8 billion dollars, is said to be completed by 2010. The contractors stopped the construction because of lack of funding. They hope to finish it by the end of 2016.The Echelon saved the trees that were once part of the Stardust’s Iconic image and use it as their own so that the trees are not destroyed.