Las Vegas in the 1940s Cortez Hotel and Casino. The Arizona Club, also known as the "Queen of Block 16", was the first Las Vegas saloon to have second story constructed for prostitution and was unchallenged until 1941. In 1942, Las Vegas closed its prostitution district, accommodating a request from the military, and by December 1942, bars and casinos were closed for an eight-hour period, starting at 2:00 AM. The West Side Club opened for African American customers in the early 1940s as, in 1942, Las Vegas city commissioners denied a permit for an interracial hotel-casino in the Downtown area. The Hotel Last Frontier was
Allure Las Vegas adjacent property. Due to its location on the northside of Sahara Avenue which serves as the southern boundary of Las Vegas, Allure is the tallest building "within" Las Vegas city proper. In 1987, developer Andrew Fonfa purchased five acres on West Sahara Avenue, near the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip. At the time, Fonfa planned to build a hotel on the property, as he expected Circus Circus Enterprises to construct the Excalibur Hotel and Casino nearby, thus increasing tourism for the northern Las Vegas Strip. The Excalibur was ultimately built at the southern end of the Las Vegas