Irwin Molasky lived life in the same manner as Las Vegas, the city he loved — fast, bold and by taking risks.
I don’t remember exactly when I met Mr. Molasky — over the years the Mr. was dropped as his name became Irwin to me, but the respect never left — but I know I was just a boy. I was living in the first home I can really remember. It was on Bracken Avenue just east of Burnham Avenue and north of Oakey Boulevard.
It was a brand new home on the southern outskirts of Las Vegas in those days. I think it sold for just under $5,000. I am recounting this information because it was in that home where I first met Irwin. He was new to town and was yet to build his first home, first apartment, first office building, hospital and shopping center. All of that would come in time — a very short time — but when I met him he was the brand new guy and he was in our home for the weekly gin rummy game.
In those days everyone was pretty much new to town, give or take a few years. Las Vegas was just getting started. The Flamingo, built by Bugsy Siegel, was opened in 1947, then came the Desert Inn. Then came Irwin Molasky, a young man looking to pursue his dream of building.
He came to the right place. Las Vegas was a blank slate, just beginning to grow faster than any city in America and in need of everything Irwin could ever dream of building. And so he did for the next 70 years.
When Las Vegas needed houses in a beautiful area designed to be home to families with schools, parks and playgrounds, it was Irwin along with his partner through a lifetime of building, Merv Adelson, who made that happen. They took a chance on something much better than existed here and it worked.
When a burgeoning Las Vegas had outgrown its hospital — now UMC — it was Irwin and his partners who led the way by building Sunrise Hospital.
Multiple generations have been born in that hospital — built out of necessity and grown through success — and it is still proudly serving our community.
Before Las Vegas was big enough to support an indoor shopping center — they are called malls today — Irwin snatched his dream from thin air and put his shovel in the ground. He and his partners took the risk and the Boulevard mall came to life. It was a magnificent tribute to a city that would soon grow to enjoy the retail opportunities that we could only read about in other places before Irwin.
Acquiring land along Maryland Parkway, which was mostly two lanes and dirt in the very early days, was a passion of Mr. Molasky. When the time came for Las Vegas’ college to think about becoming UNLV, Irwin and his friends were the first to step up to make sure that there was enough land to handle what they knew — and most people couldn’t even fathom — would be Nevada’s premier university.
From that time forward, Irwin never left UNLV’s side, always there with advice, financial resources and persuasive ability to get the coaches we needed, presidents we had to have and professors reluctant to make the move.
Irwin also represented what Las Vegas had to be in the early days. He understood the nature of the people who came here to build Las Vegas’ gambling and tourism industry. And he knew that people outside of the industry had to work with and, yes, sometimes partner with those who ran the joints if Las Vegas was to meet its potential. In short, Irwin was part of that generation of Las Vegans who helped transition this city through the early pioneers of the gaming industry and into its own time as the Entertainment and Tourism Capital of the World.
As Irwin Molasky is laid to rest today in the city he loved, I believe it is important to understand that at 93 years young, Irwin was just getting started. In fact, he never stopped building even when time tried its best to slow him down.
He leaves a large and loving family who grew up under his tutelage and understands what it means to build something from which others will benefit and help those along the way who need a little help.
Mr. Molasky came from that generation that acquired a long list through his lifetime of people for whom he was happy to help. Some people stayed on the list just a short time, until they could manage for themselves. Others, well, I suspect they remained on his ever-growing list throughout his life. — even at times when he could barely manage to support those close to him.
That was his nature and it is Las Vegas’ nature. We have always been a most giving town, even when it was hard to do so. We are like that because of people like Irwin Molasky, who at his core knew that giving was an essential part of making.
Irwin, like most human beings, was not a perfect man. But he was a perfectly good man who gave all he could to Las Vegas. We are a far better place for his having been here, and Irwin has earned his place in our remarkable history.
Rest well, my friend.
Brian Greenspun is editor, publisher and owner of the Sun.