for expensive live entertainment. In addition, the Dunes had numerous creditors. Among these was McNeil Construction, which filed a $166,000 lien against the ownership group, representing unpaid salary. The group said it would not pay the balance, stating that the construction contract had been violated. In August 1955, an agreement was reached for Sands Hotel Corporation, owner of the Sands Hotel and Casino, to lease and operate the struggling Dunes. To mark the management change, a three-day celebration was held starting on September 9, 1955. Singer Frank Sinatra headlined the ceremony and entered on a camel. Sands closed the casino portion in January 1956, due to falling profits. It was the third Las Vegas casino to close in recent months, following the Moulin Rouge Hotel and Royal Nevada. Live entertainment also ceased, although the hotel remained open. Rice blamed disagreements within Sands for the casino's failure. The group lost $1.2 million operating the Dunes, and relinquished control of the resort on February 1, 1956. Businessman Major Riddle subsequently partnered with local hotel operator William Miller to reopen the casino. They would be equal partners with 44-percent ownership, while Rice would own the remainder. The Dunes casino reopened in June 1956. Seven months later, plans were announced for Sullivan and Gottesman to sell the property to Jacob Gottlieb, owner of a Chicago trucking firm. Gottlieb became the resort's landlord through Western Realty Company, and Miller departed the property as president and general manager. The resort was managed through Riddle's operating company, M&R Investment. The Dunes was sold in a Clark County sheriff's auction at the end of 1957, to satisfy the debt owed to McNeil Construction. It sold for $115,000, but was valued at $3.5 million. Gottesman, Sullivan, and Gettinger bought it back in November 1958. The resort thrived under Riddle, who added several new shows and facilities. On April 15, 1959, the Dunes hosted the first double groundbreaking ceremony in Las Vegas history: one for a convention center, built south of the existing resort facilities, and another for a 500-space parking lot directly north of the resort. In 1961, St. Louis businessmen Sid Wyman, Charlie Rich, and George Duckworth invested in the Dunes and became the new operators through a lease agreement. Wyman was put in charge of casino operations, and Riddle remained as the majority owner. The following year, he sold 15 percent of the operating corporation to the