considered several redevelopment projects for the site, but lack of financing hindered these plans. In May 2007, he agreed to sell the New Frontier to El Ad Properties for more than $1.2 billion. The resort closed on July 16, 2007, and demolition began later that year. The 16-story tower was imploded on November 13, 2007. It was the last of the Hughes-era casinos to be demolished. The 984-room property had been popular as a low-budget alternative to the larger resorts on the Strip. El Ad owned the Plaza Hotel in New York City, and planned to replace the New Frontier with a Plaza-branded resort, but the project was canceled due to the Great Recession. Crown Resorts also scrapped plans to build the Alon Las Vegas resort. The site was purchased by Wynn Resorts in 2018, although plans to build the Wynn West resort were also shelved, and the land remains vacant. The property hosted numerous entertainers throughout its operation, including Wayne Newton and Robert Goulet. It hosted the Las Vegas debuts of Liberace in 1944, and Elvis Presley in 1956, and also hosted the final performance of Diana Ross & The Supremes in 1970. History A portion of the property began as a casino and dance club known as Pair O' Dice. It opened on July 4, 1931, and was remodeled and enlarged during its first year. It was originally owned by casino dealer Frank Detra. Businessman Guy McAfee took over club operations in 1939. He remodeled the property and renamed it the 91 Club, after its location on Highway 91, which would later become the Las Vegas Strip. He purchased the club later in 1939, for $10,000. Hotel Last Frontier (1942–65) McAfee sold the 91 Club in late 1941, to a group based in Arizona. R.E. Griffith, owner of a movie theater chain in the southwestern U.S., paid $1,000 per acre for the 35-acre site. In addition to theaters, Griffith also owned the Hotel El Rancho in Gallup, New Mexico, and planned to expand it into a hotel chain. Griffith had originally planned to build his next hotel in Deming, New Mexico, before traveling to Las Vegas and realizing that it presented better opportunities. He intended to construct a western-themed hotel-casino resort on the newly purchased land. However, his initial name for the project was already in use by the El Rancho Vegas, which opened in 1941 as the