From our historical series: "The Stories Within These Walls” Part One I think the best place to start these monthly articles about the community members and Eagles whose names appear on the plaque outside our door is with our aerie’s Architect – J. Maher Weller. While I was not able to ascertain if Mr. Weller was an Eagle, he was certainly a respected member of the Las Vegas community at the time and was involved in many different architectural projects. He was also a regularly quoted source in the Sun newspaper regarding local events. Most notably, Mr. Weller was the Associate Architect for the construction of the Riviera Hotel and Casino. Construction on the Riviera began in 1954, and the resort/casino opened to great fanfare on April 20, 1955. It was an extensive project and the hotel featured nine stories with 291 rooms. It was the first “sky-scraper” of the Las Vegas skyline and kept that record until the following year when the Fremont Hotel and Casino opened. Another notable project that Mr. Weller worked on was the 1961 redesign of the very popular “El Portal Theatre” located at 310 Fremont Street. The El Portal theatre originally opened in 1928 and was the first building in Las Vegas to have (much needed!) air conditioning. The first movie shown in the Theatre was “Ladies of the Mob.” Later, in 1957, Frank Sinatra’s film “The Joker is Wild” had its national red-carpet premiere at the El Portal. So, when Mr. Weller was tasked with remodeling and modernizing the theatre in 1961, he must have realized it was a significant job. Mr. Weller was the Architect of our Las Vegas Aerie #1213 building, which was erected in 1961, the same year that he was also remodeling the El Portal movie theatre down the street and around the corner. What a busy man to be the architect of two big, important projects in the same year. Knowing that the architect of our building was a prominent figure in the history of Las Vegas architecture and design is a good reason to take pride in our beautiful and unique Aerie building. The updates that we have been conducting over the past year have highlighted some of the beautiful designs that Mr. Weller drew up. Please take a look at our entrance lobby floor tile and the fireplace in our game room to get an idea of the vision that Mr. Weller had for our building. The stories these walls could tell! Kristina Mull Auditor, Eagles #1213
Members of Aerie #1213, we are happy to announce the return of The Crier newsletter, and it looks amazing! This fantastic resource is what you need to be in-the-know of all your Aerie’s happenings and it can arrive right into your inbox. The first issue of the year was sent out this morning, so check your inbox. If you would like to be placed on the email list to receive it, email our newsletter editor Barb Wolfe at: thecrier.1213@gmail.com And next time you see Barb, thank her for the awesome work.