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There are so many names that make you think of Las Vegas: Elvis Presley, Wayne Newton, Holly Madison, The Rat Pack. But many times we equate Las Vegas with celebrities and pay little mind to the people behind the scenes. Even the mayor, Oscar Goodman, gets a bit of celebrity treatment with his wild birthday parties, carefree attitude and constant support of Vegas’ “Sin City” reputation. But before you can come to a Las Vegas nightclub or Las Vegas hotel, someone has to build it. There are many moguls out there in Las Vegas but the city just had to deal with losing one of its main men: Bob Stupak.
Stupak, a native of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, was well known for his quirkiness and sometimes brash attitude. But in the obituaries written across the net, no one really had a bad thing to say about Stupak—but he wasn’t a wallflower. He earned the nickname of the “Polish Maverick” for being headstrong about the many ideas he had for Las Vegas hotels and casinos. When many of the ideas, which some called outlandish, were denied permits Stupak would take on the law and challenge the authorities that denied him. Always an independent thinker, he even formed his own newspaper, the now defunct Las Vegas Bullet. He even tried to venture in the political world a few times by running for both the position of mayor and lieutenant governor of Las Vegas. But Stupak’s essence was about achieving a dream. Like many people that come to Las Vegas hoping to make their dreams come true, Stupak moved to Vegas in 1971 to try and do just that.
Gambling was his forte and a passion. In 1974 after saving up a significant amount of money, Stupak opened up “Bob Stupak’s World Famous Historic Gaming Museum.” It wouldn’t last long as an air-conditioner caught fire and burned the building down. But that wouldn’t stop the Polish Maverick. He then went on to build Vegas World which featured the world’s largest mural. Stupak was a fan of outlandish ideas. He wanted to build a hotel based off of the Moulin Rouge. Another idea, one that is often attached to his name, was a hotel that was a model replica of a sinking Titanic. Those ideas were never realized, but he closed Vegas World in order to build the $550 million dollar Stratosphere Hotel in 1996.
Along with being one of the tallest structures in the world, the Stratosphere became well known for its thrill rides at the observation deck. The Stratosphere is also currently home to the Las Vegas shows American Superstars and the sexy vampire revue Bite. So while Bob Stupak didn’t get his Moulin Rouge or Titanic, he did get to see the dream Stratosphere realized before he lost his battle with leukemia.
Stupak died at Desert Springs Hospital with his family at his side. He was 67 years old.
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