All Deverynn Bryant wants is to bring the Moulin Rouge back to life.
The resort on Bonanza Road was the first racially integrated hotel and casino in Nevada. Black performers on the Strip, who were barred from eating or staying at the resorts where they played, made the Moulin Rouge an all-night party spot for the six short months it was open in 1955 before closing in bankruptcy.
Bryant visits the abandoned property often, sitting, listening to music, collecting mementos.
West Las Vegas was headed toward becoming an area to celebrate black culture and black-owned businesses when the Moulin Rouge opened. Its closure stifled that momentum, he says.
“The story of the Moulin Rouge is the story of me, the story of my people.”
Bryant believes restoring the property can start a positive new chapter for black history in Las Vegas.
Lonnie Hammargren has spent a lifetime collecting, well, everything. A locally known figure, he opens up his home every year on Nevada Day for visitors to see everything from a 37-foot Venetian gondola to a roller coaster car from the Stratosphere.
J.T. and his wife Lauren are putting everything on the line to open a brewery, because it’s his dream, because it means a future for their daughter–and they can’t afford to fail.
Red Rock Resort-Casino assistant executive chef Jose “Lupe” Avila discusses their gingerbread rendering of the resort that was made with over 200-pounds of chocolate, at Red Rock resort, on Monday, Nov. 23, 2020, in Las Vegas.
Las Vegas artist Henry Chang discusses his custom kinetic art cars as they arrive to Area15, in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020.