Allard Roen (May 8, 1921 – August 28, 2008) was an American businessman in the hospitality industry. He was the Managing Director of the Desert Inn and the Stardust Resort and Casino in Paradise, Nevada. He was a co-founder of the Sunrise Hospital,

The Boulevard Mall The Boulevard Mall is located at 3528 S Maryland Pkwy, in Paradise, Nevada, United States (an unincorporated town in the Las Vegas Valley). Located on , it is a single-story super-regional mall with of lease-able retail space. It has 140 stores ...

and the Las Vegas Country Club. Later, he was a co-founder and the on-site Manager of the

La Costa Resort and Spa The Omni La Costa Resort & Spa is a luxury destination resort hotel opened in 1965, located in Carlsbad, California, and is owned by Omni Hotels & Resorts, based out of Dallas, Texas. The resort is located in the San Diego area hills and is known ...

in Carlsbad, California.

Biography

Early life

Roen was born on May 8, 1921, in Cleveland, Ohio.Ed Koch
Desert Inn, Stardust chief helped integrate Las Vegas Strip
'' Las Vegas Sun'', September 1, 2008Steve Schmidt
A. Roen, La Costa co-owner, dies at 87
'' U-T San Diego'', August 31, 2008 He was awarded a baseball scholarship to attend Duke University, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business in 1943. He served as Lieutenant in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

from 1943 to 1946.

Career

Allard arrived in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, Nevada, in 1949. Shortly after, he was hired by

Moe Dalitz Morris Barney Dalitz (December 25, 1899 – August 31, 1989) was an American gangster, businessman, casino owner, and philanthropist. He was one of the major figures who shaped Las Vegas in the 20th century. He was often referred to as "Mr. Las V ...

to serve as the Managing Director of the Desert Inn. As such, he negotiated with labor unions and construction companies to build the casino. Shortly after it was built, in 1952, he added a golf course for guests. When Dalitz acquired the Stardust Resort and Casino, Roen became its Managing Director as well. In this capacity, he negotiated for the

Le Lido Le Lido is a cabaret and burlesque show located on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, France. It opened in 1946 at 78 Avenue des Champs-Élysées and moved to its current location in 1977. It is known for its exotic shows including dancers, singers ...

, a

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

-based cabaret company, to perform at the Desert Inn. A proponent of civil rights, he reached an agreement with the NAACP to allow black guests at the Desert Inn and the Stardust in 1960. Eventually, he negotiated to sell the Desert Inn to

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...

. With Moe Dalitz, Irwin Molasky and Merv Adelson, he founded Paradise Development, a real estate development company in the 1950s. Together, they founded the Sunrise Hospital,

and the Las Vegas Country Club. Roen served as the first president of the Nevada Resort Association. He also served on the board of trustees of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. In the late 1960s, he reconvened with Molasky and Adelson to develop the

in Carlsbad, California.Jeannie Sprague-Bentley, ''Carlsbad'', Arcadia Publishing, 2009, p. 11

/ref> The luxury resort had a golf course and an equestrian center. Roen served as its on-site manager from 1967 to 1987. The resort was eventually sold to Sports Shinko Co., a Japanese company, in 1987.

Personal life

He was married to Evelyn Roen. They had a son, Jeffrey, and three daughters, Judy, Priscilla, and Melissa. Roen was one of the founders of the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas.

Death

He died of heart disease on August 28, 2008, in Carlsbad, California, at the age of eighty-seven. His funeral took place at El Camino Memorial Park in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roen, Allard 1921 births 2008 deaths Businesspeople from Cleveland American people of Jewish descent People from the Las Vegas Valley People from Carlsbad, California Fuqua School of Business alumni United States Navy 20th-century American businesspeople