Ralph Engelstad
|
|
Ralph Engelstad (January 28, 1930 Thief River Falls, Minnesota - November 26, 2002 Las Vegas, Nevada) was the multi-millionaire owner of the Imperial Palace casinos in Las Vegas and in Biloxi, Mississippi and donor for the construction of the Ralph Engelstad Arena for his alma mater, the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, North Dakota, whose teams are called "The Fighting Sioux".
Engelstad was a somewhat controversial figure, owing to his collection of Nazi memorabilia in the casino, including a painting of himself dressed in Nazi uniform. Also, as a condition of building the arena, Engelstad required that the Fighting Sioux name be kept indefinitely, despite the feelings of many in that native tribe. One of the more interesting developments of this was the placing of the Fighting Sioux logo in all 11,000+ seats and in a large marble display in the front of the building, to make removal of the logo very costly if attempted.
Engelstad was known as a self-made man, and one of the very few independent casino owners in Las Vegas. He also was a great philanthropist, even aside from his work with the arena, but will probably not be remembered in a positive light.
He died in 2002, after a lengthy battle with cancer.