The resort originally opened as the Thunderbird, owned by building developer Marion Hicks and Lieutenant Governor of Nevada Clifford A. Jones.[1] Hicks had previously built the El Cortez hotel-casino, which opened in downtown Las Vegas in 1941.[2] Joe Wells, the father of actress Dawn Wells,[3] was also a partner in the Thunderbird.[4] The hotel project, originally known as the Nevada Ambassador, was announced in March 1946. It was to cost $1 million, and would be built on Highway 91 in the Las Vegas Valley,[5] on what would later become the Las Vegas Strip.[6] Construction was underway in October 1947.[7]