considered "more of an inquiry" than a serious offer, a belief that was disputed by Leonard Gale, vice president of Acro. Gale acknowledged that the Landmark was "the biggest lemon in Las Vegas", but was confident it could become a successful property under Acro's ownership. After weeks of negotiations, Summa announced that no decision had been made on a sale of the Landmark, reportedly due to disagreements within the company. William Lummis, a cousin of Hughes, had been named chairman of the Summa board earlier in the year. Lummis wanted to sell all of Summa's non-profitable properties, while chief operating officer Frank William Gay, citing the purported desires of Hughes, wanted to expand and modernize such properties. The Landmark was considered the weakest of Summa's six gaming and hotel properties in Nevada, as it had never made a profit up to that time. Summa officials held a meeting on November 3, 1977, but the company made no decision on selling the Landmark, which lost an average of $500,000 per month. By that time, the Scott Corporation stated that it would likely withdraw its offer to purchase the Landmark because of inability to obtain long-term financing. In January 1978, Summa announced that the Landmark would be sold to the Scott Corporation, with the sale price reportedly ranging between $10 million and $12 million. Up to that time, the resort had reportedly lost $15 million since its opening, despite numerous attempts to increase business. Experts believed that the Landmark suffered financially as a result of its low room-count (486 guest rooms at the time) and its location across the street from the Las Vegas Hilton (formerly the International), which was the world's largest hotel at the time. Frank Scott owned downtown Las Vegas' Union Plaza Hotel, which had become one of the city's most successful casinos, and he said the same management principles used at the Union Plaza would be applied to the Landmark. Scott intended to change the name of the resort, with "The Plaza Tower" as the favorite among several names under consideration. Scott planned to take over operations once the sale received approval from Summa, county and state gaming officials, and courts that were handling Hughes' estate. Because higher offers were subsequently made for the Landmark, the Scott Corporation's offer was rejected by a judge who was monitoring the Hughes estate. Wolfram/Tickel ownership A group of midwestern investors purchased