Royal Palm Las Vegas had difficulty obtaining financing for the Paramount project, and the land was put up for sale later in 2008.

[5] Ralph Engelstad purchased the motel in 1969,[9] using money from a $2 million sale of the North Las Vegas Air Terminal to Howard Hughes.

[15] Woodrum, a former business partner of Bill Boyd, took over operations of the motel on May 12, 1976,[16] and it was renamed that year as Klondike Inn.

[3][17][18] In 1976, Woodrum provided a power line to the nearby Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign, which had not been lit for several years.

[13][24] The Klondike included a western theme,[25][26] and was the first hotel-casino encountered by people travelling north on the Las Vegas Strip.

[23] In 2000, Woodrum stated that Clark County wanted to demolish aging motels on the southern Las Vegas Strip for new megaresorts.

[13][33] The Woodrum family continued to operate the Klondike through an open-ended lease, while a closing date initially remained undetermined.

Plans for the new resort were approved by Clark County in October 2006,[38][41] but Royal Palm Las Vegas did not expect to begin construction in the near future.

[42] Plans for the project were delayed in late August 2007, when an investor pulled out shortly before closing on restructuring a land loan.

Royal Palm Las Vegas LLC was ordered by Clark County to either demolish the buildings by November 13, 2007, or repair them by December 18, 2007.

[44] By January 2008, plans for the Paramount project were uncertain as Royal Palm Las Vegas had difficulty obtaining financing, due to a tightening credit market.

[48] The Klondike appears in the 1997 film Vegas Vacation,[3][49] in which the character of Clark (Chevy Chase) plays unusual gambling games to win his money back.

[50][51] In 2005, Avenged Sevenfold filmed a portion of the music video for their song, "Bat Country", inside one of the Klondike's motel rooms.