I dropped by the “old” Moulin Rouge today to get the last pictures I will likely ever get of the property until they build the “new” Moulin Rouge on this same site.
There have been rumors floating that the fire was intentional because the property was put up for foreclose auction and did not sell, but nobody knows … nor will they ever know.
To be candid, I believe the rumors. This kind of nonsense is just all too convenient. I was a kid in New York during part of the 70′s when the South Bronx and parts of Brooklyn were being torched left and right by one slumlord after another. As a child, I watched them burn with my own two eyes. It wasn’t just the buildings, people died.
Greed knows no limits, and it would be naive to think that Las Vegas is immune from such malfeasance.
Maybe, I’m wrong, though. Even though the building changed hands very recently, maybe it’s all a massive coincidence.
I heard one local station blame it on “homeless squatters” (homeless folks are the preferred scapegoats of every large city), but … let’s just say that I doubt it.
I saw one news van while I was there, but I didn’t see any fire investigators trying to get to the bottom of the cause.
My guess is that they know the cause … but none of this rambling really matters.
It doesn’t really matter how it happened, and while the place had historical significance … let’s be honest … nobody has cared about the Moulin Rouge for a long time. I knew it was there, but it’s not like I hung out at the place. I wouldn’t consider it a personal loss. From a practical perspective, nobody outside of the city will care that it has burned down.
I document its demise for historical purposes, but the place was truly gone many years ago.
If and when they build the new property, I will almost certainly patronize it. I would like to see something happening in West Las Vegas … I mean besides their images being printed in the “50 most prolific hookers in Las Vegas” article, as our esteemed RJ has been doing as of late.
While standing in front of the rubble, I turned around and saw the Las Vegas Review Journal Building which is directly across the street … then the irony hit me.
The righteous are always the first to go.
