Other entertainers who performed at the Stardust include Don Rickles, Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, Siegfried & Roy, and Steve and Eydie.

[9] Approximately 60 percent of bricklayers in the Las Vegas Valley were hired to construct the Stardust, leaving few workers available to build new school facilities in the area.

[11] However, a request for a gaming license was denied two months prior by the tax commission, which cited a policy that applications not be considered until a casino is one-third completed.

A list of these individuals was to be provided to the Nevada Gaming Control Board for final approval, but this did not occur as scheduled, thus delaying the Stardust's planned opening on August 1, 1955.

Attendees of the opening included Nevada governor Charles H. Russell, U.S. senator George Malone, and various celebrities such as Bob Hope, Milton Berle, and Ethel Merman.

[74][75] A year later, the Stardust was purchased by Lodestar, Inc., which consisted of major Desert Inn stockholders such as Moe Dalitz,[76][77][78] who had affiliations with organized crime.

[98] Allen Glick, a San Diego developer, purchased the Stardust in 1974, using money borrowed from the Teamsters Union Pension Fund.

[129] An 18-count complaint was filed against Sachs and Tobman, stating that they failed to take appropriate action to stop this latest skimming operation, which totaled more than $1.5 million.

[136] Constellation Inc, led by a trio that included Bill Boyd, was chosen by the gaming control board to temporarily manage the casino.

[145] Sachs and Tobman filed a suit against the state, seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to maintain the gaming license.

[162] A robbery occurred at the Stardust in 1992, when two men used smoke bombs to steal $1.1 million from a guard, who was bringing the money to an armored truck.

[171][172] In the late 1990s, Boyd Gaming delayed plans to redevelop the Stardust property, choosing instead to focus on its Borgata hotel-casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

[190] On January 3, 2006, Boyd Gaming announced plans to close the Stardust within a year and replace it with a mixed-use project called Echelon Place, scheduled to open in 2010.

The closure was earlier than Boyd had expected, as some employees had left the resort early for new jobs, making it difficult to continue operations at the Stardust.

[197] Gaming operations began to shut down that morning, followed by the full closure at 12:00 p.m.[198][199] It was the largest resort to close on the Las Vegas Strip since the Sands Hotel and Casino in 1996.

[198] Prior to the closure, a year had been spent cataloging more than 70,000 Stardust items to be auctioned off, including furniture, carpets, artwork, and palm trees.

[201][202][203][204] Boyd Gaming had considered preserving the 32-story tower and incorporating it into the Echelon project, but the company decided that a completely vacant parcel of land would be better.

The hotel included the Big Dipper swimming pool, measuring 105 feet (32 m) long and containing 175,000 US gallons (660,000 L; 146,000 imp gal).

Stardust manager Al Sachs conceived the idea after realizing the high number of RV tourists in Las Vegas.

[280] A $50 million renovation project was finished in 1987, adding a 30,000 sq ft (2,800 m2) shopping mall and other features,[281][282][283] including a new resort entrance.

[297] The Los Angeles Times wrote that the resort went from being "the world's largest hotel to one of the smallest on the Strip, from glamour to infamy to middle-class normalcy.

In 1977, the façade was revamped to remove the space theme and signage, instead adding a series of blue and magenta mirror panels along the front of the resort.

The stage was billed as larger than a basketball court, held a swimming tank and ice skating rink, and was capable of generating rain and snow on demand.

[328][332][333] Other notable performers at the Stardust included Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, Phyllis Diller, Robert Goulet, Don Rickles,[334][335][336] Billy Daniels,[337] Chicago,[338][339][340] Steve and Eydie,[341] The Temptations, the Four Tops,[342] George Carlin,[343] Bobby Berosini,[344][345] Andrew Dice Clay,[346] and Bob Newhart.

[371][372] Gene Pitney made his Las Vegas Strip debut at the Stardust in 2003,[373][374] and hypnotist Anthony Cools began a six-month run at the resort that year.

[375] Havana Night Club premiered at the Stardust in 2004, featuring more than 50 Cuban dancers, musicians, and singers, It was directed by Kenny Ortega, and co-produced by Siegfried & Roy.

The show previously premiered in 1999 and toured around the world, but the Las Vegas version was modified extensively by Ortega, who spent a year working on it.

[376] The show's Las Vegas debut was postponed because of issues concerning travel visas,[377][378][379] and the Stardust briefly considered hiring a replacement act.

[294] However, snippets of the Hoagy Carmichael song "Stardust" can be heard on the soundtrack, giving a subtle hint as to the casino's true identity.

[399][400][401] A television pilot for a failed reality show, titled So You Wanna Be an Actor, was shot at the Stardust in September 2006, becoming the last production project to shoot there.