Tuesday, Nov. 25, 1997 | 9:55 a.m.
If there could have been one last wish -- just one chance to rub that glimmering gold lamp on the Aladdin's roof -- today might not have happened.
The hotel-casino's employees would have asked that there be no reason for tears, no need to say goodbye to one another. They would have asked that, come Wednesday, the Aladdin of old would still be there to come back to.
The reality for those 1,485 employees will hit at 6 p.m. tonight when the gilded glass doors close for the last time, shutting down the landmark Strip hotel to make way for a $1.2 billion megaresort. The Aladdin opened in 1966.
"This is the last of its kind, and it's really sad to see it happen," August DeJoy said, ending his shift Monday night as floor supervisor.
DeJoy moved from Colorado to Las Vegas 25 years ago, drawn to the city by its bright lights and energy. He became a craps dealer -- "a dying art," he called it -- and has watched the most famous casinos fall, one by one.
"I worked at the Sands and the Dunes, and they imploded both of those. Now, they're doing it to the Aladdin. I was beginning to wonder if it was me!"
The Aladdin's 17-floor tower is scheduled for a February implosion, paving the way for what those in marketing promise will be "a bigger and better Aladdin."
"It can never be any better than this," DeJoy said. "This was one of the standout joints in the '70s. You'd see them all here -- Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. You'd see the people in gowns and jackets going to the shows. Today, it's shorts and fanny packs. There's a lot of feeling now that it's all over. A lot of nostalgia."
Few casino guests seemed noticeably saddened.
Steps from DeJoy, a girl with purple hair fumbled in her ripped jeans for a few bucks to throw on the table. A stringy haired man yelled profanities and pushed his companion into a slot machine. Jane's Addiction rock concert attendees waited in the lobby for the show to start, drinking beers and letting cigarette ashes fall where they may.
The Aladdin made only 343 of its 1,100-plus hotel rooms available for its last night, selling out all of them with a drastically reduced rate from $90 to $29.
Sharon Kaup spent her last shift in the Oasis Coffee Shop fighting back tears until an impatient customer threw her a belligerent remark as she dried her eyes with a tissue while collecting his money at the cash register.
"The casino's closing and we still get rude customers," Kaup said. "We're one big family here, and this is tearing us apart. I've been trying to stay strong all day, but this is just so emotional."
The Aladdin had a checkered past, with ties in its early years to St. Louis mobsters and with more than its share of financial woes. Entertainer Wayne Newton owned it for a time, along with Japanese businessman Ginji Yasuda.
The Aladdin's last few hours proved especially melancholy for Bell Captain Pete Busby as well. The 27-year employee spent his entire adult life in the casino, working his way up from the coffee shop to room service to the bell desk.
It would be a challenge, he said, to count all the celebrities he's met. He shared memories of Bill Cosby and George Jessel, of taking Sammy Davis Jr. up to a penthouse suite, and of the courtesy extended by Robert Wagner and his late wife, Natalie Wood.
Busby even had the chance to see a real Mafia godfather pass through the Aladdin, flanked by suited underbosses. "It was quite a time back then. It was in the late '70s, 'The Godfather' had just come out. We were comparing Hollywood with reality."
This holiday season will mark the first time in years Busby has had Thanksgiving off, possibly Christmas, too. He couldn't predict whether he'd shed a tear when he left.
"I am going to have to take my car to the mechanics, though," he said, as a hotel guest handed him a white fur coat to be checked in. "My car automatically drives to the Aladdin every day, and I'm gonna have to change that. It doesn't know how to drive anywhere else."
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