If you walk down the Las Vegas Strip today, the Flamingo is impossible to miss. It’s got that neon-pink glow and those giant feathers that scream "old school Vegas." But honestly, if you ask most people when was the flamingo casino built, you’re going to get a half-truth. They’ll tell you Bugsy Siegel built it in 1946.
That’s not exactly right.
Construction actually started in 1945. And Ben "Bugsy" Siegel? He didn't even start the project. He hijacked it. The real origin story of the Flamingo is a messy, expensive, and eventually bloody saga that involves a local visionary, a bunch of mob money, and a grand opening that was, quite frankly, a total disaster.
The Forgotten Vision of Billy Wilkerson
Before the mob got their hands on the desert sand, there was Billy Wilkerson. He was the founder of The Hollywood Reporter. Wilkerson was a compulsive gambler, but he was also a genius at spotting trends. He realized that if he built a high-end, European-style resort on Highway 91—well outside the city limits of Las Vegas—he could lure his wealthy Hollywood friends out to the desert.
He bought 33 acres in 1945. He hired architects. He started pouring concrete. But Wilkerson had a problem. He was broke. He’d gambled away his construction budget, and the price of materials was skyrocketing after World War II. That’s when the "outfit" stepped in.
Siegel and his associates saw an opportunity. They "invested" in the project, which is a polite way of saying they took it over. By the time 1946 rolled around, Wilkerson was basically pushed out of his own dream. Siegel took the reins, and that's when the costs started to get absolutely insane.
Why the 1946 Opening Was a Mess
When people look up when was the flamingo casino built, the date December 26, 1946, usually pops up. This was the "Grand Opening."
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It was a nightmare.
Bugsy was obsessed. He wanted the best of everything. We're talking hand-cut stone, expensive wood, and a private sewer system that cost a fortune. Because of his perfectionism and some suspected skimming by contractors, the budget ballooned from $1.2 million to $6 million. In 1946 dollars, that was an unthinkable amount of money.
He rushed the opening.
On that rainy night in December, the hotel rooms weren't even finished. Guests had to gamble in the casino and then go sleep at other hotels down the road. The air conditioning—a massive selling point in the desert—kept breaking down. To make matters worse, the Hollywood stars Siegel expected didn't show up in the numbers he hoped for.
The casino lost $300,000 in its first week. It shut down just moments after it opened.
The 1947 Rebirth (And the End of Bugsy)
The Flamingo didn't officially "finish" being built until 1947. Siegel spent the early months of that year frantically trying to finish the rooms and get the place profitable. It reopened in March 1947.
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By May, it was actually making money.
But it was too late for Bugsy. His mob partners back East, including Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano, were convinced he had stolen their money. They didn't believe the $6 million construction cost was real. They thought he was stashing it in secret accounts.
On June 20, 1947, Siegel was sitting in his girlfriend Virginia Hill’s Beverly Hills home when a sniper fired through the window. He died instantly.
Ironically, the Flamingo became a massive success almost immediately after his death. The mob took over, sanitized the image just enough, and turned it into the gold mine Siegel always promised it would be.
The Layers of Construction
The Flamingo you see today isn't the one Siegel built. Not a single original building remains.
- 1946-1947: The original low-rise "bungalow" style resort.
- The 1950s: Major expansions as Vegas started to boom.
- 1967: Kirk Kerkorian bought the property and started the first big wave of modernizing.
- 1993: The very last of the original Siegel-era buildings, including the "Oregon" suite where Bugsy stayed, was demolished to make room for the current garden and habitat.
It's sort of like George Washington's axe. If you replace the handle and then you replace the head, is it still the same axe? The Flamingo is the same way. It's the oldest brand on the Strip, but the physical structures are relatively modern.
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Architecture and the "Miami" Influence
One of the reasons the Flamingo stood out was because it didn't look like a Western ranch. In the 1940s, Vegas was all about "The Last Frontier" and "El Rancho." It was cowboy hats and sawdust.
The Flamingo brought the "Miami Modern" look to Nevada.
It had clean lines, lush landscaping, and a sophisticated vibe. It changed the trajectory of the city. Because of the Flamingo, Vegas stopped trying to be a dusty outpost and started trying to be a glamorous oasis. That shift in 1946 is the reason we have the mega-resorts of today.
Actionable Insights for History Buffs
If you're visiting Vegas and want to see the "real" history of when the Flamingo was built, don't just look at the slot machines.
- Visit the Memorial: There is a stone pillar and plaque near the wedding chapel and the flamingo habitat. It marks the spot where the original "Oregon" building stood.
- Check the Neon: While the current "Fabergé" neon sign isn't the 1940s original, it’s a direct homage to the mid-century design.
- The Mob Museum: If you want the raw data on the construction costs and the FBI files on the building of the Flamingo, take a rideshare downtown to the Mob Museum. They have actual architectural fragments and the full timeline of the Siegel/Wilkerson fallout.
The Flamingo wasn't just built; it was survived. It survived a botched opening, a murder, and several corporate takeovers. Understanding that it was a project born in 1945, debuted in 1946, and finalized in 1947 gives you a much better perspective on why this specific corner of the Strip is so legendary.
When you walk through those doors, you aren't just walking into a casino. You're walking into the place that proved Las Vegas could actually work. It’s the anchor that held the Strip together when it was nothing but a two-lane road in the middle of nowhere.