Irwin Molasky
Building the city beyond the Strip
Homes, hospital rooms, shopping and a university campus: Molasky’s development career opens a view of the everyday city behind the resort skyline.
A construction background
Molasky worked in construction before moving to Las Vegas in 1951. With Merv Adelson, he established Paradise Development. Paradise Palms and the Boulevard Mall place his career in the story of residential and commercial growth. [1]
Why a hospital belonged in the plan
Sunrise connected Molasky and Adelson with Moe Dalitz and Allard Roen. Ann Lynch’s oral-history catalog describes the partners’ ambition to attract doctors to a growing community. The hospital was part of a wider development program, not an isolated building. [2]
Land, education and community
Molasky donated land to UNLV and became the Foundation’s founding chairman in 1981. His involvement with Temple Beth Sholom and Nathan Adelson Hospice adds religious and charitable institutions to the development record. These strands explain why a casino-only history misses much of his influence. [1]
Inside the family and business archive
The Irwin and Susan Molasky Papers bring together project records, development publications, news clippings and personal photographs. Some material is online. The guide also records Susan’s hospice fundraising, a reminder that the civic story includes partners and families as well as the best-known business name. [4]
Key dates
People in the same story
Merv Adelson
Partner in development and the hospital and hospice projects. [1] [5]
Read the profileMoe Dalitz
A partner in the Sunrise development group. [2]
Read the profileHank Greenspun
Explore another route from business to community development. A thematic comparison. UNLV · Jewish Heritage Project
Read the profileIn the archive
5 matching entries in the saved collection.
Developer Irwin Molasky Dies At 93, Spent 60 Years Building Las Vegas
Publisher page and article metadata checked · Oct 3, 2026
Photo album of an Israel Bond dinner honoring Billy and Jean Weinberger held at Caesars Palace (Las Vegas, Nev.), circa 1975
Photograph from Irwin and Susan Molasky Papers. Catalog date: Circa 1970–1979.
Transcript of interview with Beth Molasky by David Shwartz, June 2, 2014
Oral history · Beth Molasky oral history interview. Catalog date: June 2, 2014.
Transcript of interview with Susan Molasky by Barbara Tabach, March 11, 2014
Oral history · Susan Molasky oral history interview. Catalog date: March 11, 2014.
Transcript of interview with Irwin Molasky by David G. Schwartz, April 23, 2014
Oral history · Irwin Molasky oral history interview. Catalog date: April 23, 2014.
Go deeper into the record.
Sources for this profile and starting points for further research. Access notes mark links we could not open directly during the October 3–4, 2026 checks. Historical accounts describe their own period; they do not necessarily describe current operations.
- 1
Irwin Molasky
An older biography, written before his death in 2020; present-tense titles on that page are historical.
- 2
Ann Lynch oral history, October 17, 1985
The catalog describes a hospital worker’s account of Sunrise and nursing. Digital audio is available; no transcript is listed.
- 3
Las Vegas’ Sunrise Hospital still spreading its wings at 60
Includes a 1958 opening advertisement. The retrospective dates the ribbon-cutting and open house to December 14, 1958.
Subscription or access restrictions may apply. Access check: Oct 4, 2026. Search for this source (search results)
- 4
Irwin and Susan Molasky Papers
Includes development records and family photographs. Some material is digitized; the full collection is not reproduced here.
- 5
Nathan Adelson
Background on Sunrise’s administrator and the hospice established in his memory.
- 6
Influential Las Vegas developer Irwin Molasky dies at 93
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Subscription or access restrictions may apply. Access check: Oct 4, 2026. Search for this source (search results)