Meet 'Mr. Las Vegas,' Roger Peltyn
August 29, 2003
LAS VEGAS – When New York halted construction projects because of a weak economy in 1976, Roger Peltyn packed his bags and moved to Los Angeles. Peltyn, who trained to be a structural engineer at Penn State University, took a job working for John Martin of Martin & Martin.
When John Martin (now in his 80s) wanted to open an office in Las Vegas, he picked Roger Peltyn as his partner and that's how Martin & Peltyn, Inc., structural engineers, was born in Las Vegas in 1981. The rest is history. Martin & Peltyn now have 16 offices in the U.S.A. with a new office in Beijing to advise on hospitality and other construction projects in China. And today people who know Peltyn refer to him as 'Mr. Las Vegas.'
Since then, Martin & Peltyn have engineered the steel and concrete for every new hotel in Las Vegas in the past 20 years except the Mandalay Bay, Luxor and Excalibur properties, Peltyn said.
"I got lucky. Steve Wynn built the first tower with the Golden Nugget. He had dreams. Wynn said, "It's not about gambling. It's about fun."
Peltyn also does schools and public buildings.
"Tourism was hurt by 9/11. It hurt," Peltyn said. "We're just coming out of it now. We've broken ground on the World Market Center, a wonderful new attraction for this city. I've believed in this project since the beginning. We're doing high-rise condominiums and timeshare projects. There's a 1,000-room expansion of Caesars and the Venetian. We're working on Steve Wynn's La Reve, the biggest project ever to hit this town. Recently, we put up the addition to Caesars for the Celine Dion extension. Martin & Peltyn did the theatres at the Bellagio and Caesars."
Peltyn doesn't mind that despite contributing 15 percent of the material cost for each project, his contribution is usually hidden by the end. "Architects and interior designers cover up my stuff - all the steel and concrete. It looks like the old Coliseum. The Eiffel tower at the Paris hotel is my steel structure but everything else we do is covered up.''
When John Martin (now in his 80s) wanted to open an office in Las Vegas, he picked Roger Peltyn as his partner and that's how Martin & Peltyn, Inc., structural engineers, was born in Las Vegas in 1981. The rest is history. Martin & Peltyn now have 16 offices in the U.S.A. with a new office in Beijing to advise on hospitality and other construction projects in China. And today people who know Peltyn refer to him as 'Mr. Las Vegas.'
Since then, Martin & Peltyn have engineered the steel and concrete for every new hotel in Las Vegas in the past 20 years except the Mandalay Bay, Luxor and Excalibur properties, Peltyn said.
"I got lucky. Steve Wynn built the first tower with the Golden Nugget. He had dreams. Wynn said, "It's not about gambling. It's about fun."
Peltyn also does schools and public buildings.
"Tourism was hurt by 9/11. It hurt," Peltyn said. "We're just coming out of it now. We've broken ground on the World Market Center, a wonderful new attraction for this city. I've believed in this project since the beginning. We're doing high-rise condominiums and timeshare projects. There's a 1,000-room expansion of Caesars and the Venetian. We're working on Steve Wynn's La Reve, the biggest project ever to hit this town. Recently, we put up the addition to Caesars for the Celine Dion extension. Martin & Peltyn did the theatres at the Bellagio and Caesars."
Peltyn doesn't mind that despite contributing 15 percent of the material cost for each project, his contribution is usually hidden by the end. "Architects and interior designers cover up my stuff - all the steel and concrete. It looks like the old Coliseum. The Eiffel tower at the Paris hotel is my steel structure but everything else we do is covered up.''
