Why this history matters
The building survived beyond Sundance, eventually becoming Fitzgeralds and later the D. The original chapter is therefore a story of transformation rather than demolition.
A Major Project in the Older Casino District
The property stood at 301 Fremont Street, within the established downtown corridor rather than the Strip. Moe Dalitz played a central development role, bringing another major project to a district built around older clubs and hotels.
The commonly repeated 650-room figure describes the completed two-phase property, not the first hotel tower alone. A period reconstruction gives the opening phase 290 rooms and a parking garage, followed by roughly 360 additional rooms in the taller second tower.
The distinction is important because the skyline and capacity changed during construction. Later descriptions of the finished complex should not be substituted for what a guest encountered when the hotel first opened.
Two Construction Phases, One Hotel Identity
Later histories commonly date the opening to July 2, 1980, while period reporting introduces a small day-level uncertainty. The secure anchor is early July 1980.
Work on the second tower followed in 1981. It created the vertical landmark associated with the completed hotel. Published floor counts differ slightly, so the historical point is the staged enlargement rather than an unsupported claim of one exact configuration throughout.
The licensed gaming categories included slots, blackjack, craps, roulette, keno, and poker. The available reconstruction does not supply a reliable count for every table or machine. Sundance combined those games with lodging and the street-level activity of Fremont.
Development and Casino Control Were Different Questions
Dalitz's development role did not make the licensing structure simple. Al Sachs and Herb Tobman were associated with the initial operation, bringing established casino experience but also later regulatory difficulties.
The 1983 skimming findings at the Stardust and Fremont affected their suitability and business positions. Those events should not be casually restated as a finding that the same conduct occurred at Sundance; the connection was through the people and resulting licensing pressure.
Operating arrangements changed during this period. Jackie Gaughan took over management in 1984 while the property moved toward sale. The sequence demonstrates how regulation could change the control of a resort without requiring its buildings to disappear.
Fitzgeralds and the Reuse of a Downtown Tower
A Fitzgeralds-associated management group entered during the transition before the 1987 purchase and rebranding. Sundance's original name lasted only several years, but its hotel and casino footprint remained.
The property later became the D, another identity built around reusing the downtown hotel rather than replacing it with a new tower. Each name brought a different marketing approach to the same basic location.
Sundance matters as a major construction episode during a long period when downtown saw little comparable new resort development. Its history also shows that the survival of a casino building can conceal substantial changes in ownership, regulation, and public identity.
The story in time
- 1980
Sundance opens in early July.
- 1981
A second tower completes the larger hotel configuration.
- 1983
Regulatory consequences affecting original operators prompt changes.
- 1984
Jackie Gaughan assumes management.
- 1987
The property becomes Fitzgeralds.
- Later
The surviving hotel becomes the D.
Sources & further reading
The numbered links in each chapter point to the supporting material below. The wider bibliography also includes archival collections and specialist references. Historical uncertainty is explained where it affects the story; a source link does not grant permission to reproduce its images.
Start with these sources
UNLV — Moe Dalitz biographyLas Vegas Review-Journal — Downtown Las Vegas construction historyLas Vegas Review-Journal — Fitzgeralds ownership transitionLos Angeles Times — Allan Sachs obituary/historyThe Neon Museum — Fitzgeralds property lineageVintage Las Vegas — Sundance construction and 1980 opening photographs- Research sourceUNLV — Moe Dalitz biography
- Research sourceLas Vegas Review-Journal — Downtown Las Vegas construction history
- Research sourceLas Vegas Review-Journal — Fitzgeralds ownership transition
- Research sourceLos Angeles Times — Allan Sachs obituary/history
- Research sourceThe Neon Museum — Fitzgeralds property lineage
- Research sourceTravel Weekly — Downtown construction and Sundance’s place in the timeline
- Research sourceVintage Las Vegas — Sundance construction and 1980 opening photographs
- Research sourceChipGuide — Nevada statewide casino index
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