The sultan was destroyed by fire, caused by a short circuit, on the night of December 31, 1985. Lee Klay of the Federal Sign and Signal Company designed a roadside sign for the Dunes, activated on November 12, 1964. Klay recalled that the resort owners asked him to create "a big phallic symbol going up in the sky as far as you can make it". At 181 feet, it was the tallest free-standing sign in the world. The foundation measured 80 feet in width, and supported two white-colored columns forming a bulbous onion dome or stylized spade shape at the top. Contained within this shape were two-story-high letters spelling out "Dunes", with a large diamond atop the lettering. The sign contained 16,000 feet of neon tubing, including 7,200 lamps. At night, the sign lit up in red coloring. Blackout curtains were added in hotel rooms facing the sign, as some guests had trouble sleeping because of the neon lighting. Schwartz objected to the construction of the sign, believing that it conflicted with the design of his hotel tower, although Riddle overrode him. A full-time, three-man team worked to maintain the sign, which had a service elevator going up one of its columns to the top. The sign was intentionally destroyed as part of the 1993 implosion event, with the use of 18-grain detonating cord. Architectural historian Alan Hess had advocated for saving the sign, although Mirage Resorts stated that it was in extremely poor condition, with demolition being cheaper than preservation. Saving the sign would have required it to be disassembled in eight-foot sections, at a cost of up to $100,000. A smaller, similar sign exists at the city's Neon Museum. In 2019, filmmaker Tim Burton also debuted a Dunes-inspired sign as part of Lost Vegas: Tim Burton, an exhibit at the Neon Museum. An original neon entrance sign from the resort is also located at the Nevada State Museum in Las Vegas. Restaurants A popular fine-dining restaurant, Sultan's Table, opened on March 4, 1961. It was designed by Schwartz, and included live music for diners. Riddle was inspired to build Sultan's Table after visiting an upscale restaurant, the Villa Fontana, in Mexico City. Sultan's Table was the first gourmet restaurant to open on the Strip, and Diners Club named it "America's finest and most beautiful new restaurant". The Dunes opened its Dome of the Sea on June 12, 1964.