Plaza opened on July 2, 1971, as Union Plaza, at the western end of Fremont Street. Its original name referred to the Union Pacific railroad depot whose site the new hotel and casino occupied. That railway connection gives the property a history that reaches beyond casino development to the place where downtown’s street grid meets the railroad corridor.
The railroad and the casino
The railroad connection continued after the casino opened. Plaza’s historical accounts describe an Amtrak station and ticket windows connected to the hotel, with Desert Wind passenger service continuing until 1997. The hotel and the station were related uses at the site; the casino was not simply a renamed railroad building. The original gaming owners included Sam Boyd, Jackie Gaughan and Frank Scott.
A growing hotel and a changing dome
In the 1980s, a second tower and convention center enlarged the resort. The prominent glass dome facing Main and Fremont streets also changed use. The operator’s history describes a pool setting before its later restaurant phase; the dome became home to Oscar’s Steakhouse. The same recognizable frontage could therefore frame quite different experiences in different decades.
Renovating the continuing Plaza
Later work renewed the property rather than replacing it with a separate resort. Guest rooms were refurbished during a property-wide renovation completed in 2011. A further 2019 project created Luxe rooms and suites on upper floors of the north tower. These projects belong to the continuing Plaza, not to a succession of casinos with unrelated identities.
Main Street changes
By its 2025 media kit, the operator described another completed transformation along Main Street: Carousel Bar, Pinkbox Doughnuts, Oscar’s rooftop patio and a separate smoke-free gaming space. Those venues explain changes around the dome and street frontage without changing the resort’s 1971 origin. The kit also identifies Tamares Las Vegas Group as owner and PlayLV Gaming as operator and licensee, a dated ownership description rather than an original ownership claim.
Reading the old name and the present site
Nevada’s June 30, 2026 report still lists Plaza as a downtown casino. Union Plaza and Plaza refer to phases of this same property. The older photograph preserves the Union Plaza sign before the Fremont Street Experience canopy; the main illustration depicts the Plaza tower and entrance from the supplied reference. The map marks the present complex, not the exact former depot or a historical station entrance.
