Progress edition: Pahrump’s kingdom falls in 2019

The castle-style building at the corner of Homestead Road and Highway 160, a recognizable sight by commuters and travelers arriving in Pahrump from the east, was demolished in 2019 after more than 14 years on a main drag through Pahrump.

Demolition work by Pahrump-based Full Throttle Excavation occurred in March at the 2310 S. Highway 160 property that is most known for its history as a strip club, Kingdom Gentlemen’s Club, which was shuttered in 2014.

The building’s last tenant that vacated the space in early 2018 also took on a similar name, Dr. Peter J. Shield’s Magic Kingdom, though the theme of the business, antiques and other offerings, was of a completely different scope.

Owners pegged the site to go in a different direction.

“We are hoping that this sparks some interest on our site,” said Ryan Nestman, one of the owners of the property, in March 2019. “… just to redevelop and make it a nice retail corner. It’s a great site. It’s kind of the first thing you come to from Las Vegas, so we think it will be good for the town.”

Nestman said he planned to self-develop the property.

“We would only sell if the company that we’re working with doesn’t want to let us develop it for them,” he said.

The owners of the property were in talks with someone on developing the site, but that deal was still in the early stages in March 2019, Nestman said.

Some of the furniture was still in the building before it was demolished.

“Instead of us trying to tear it up and trying to get it removed, we’ve had people down there and taking things out,” said Dawn Murphy of Full Throttle Excavation.

Murphy said her guys think it’s cool they get to tear the building down before the building was reduced to rubble.

History

The “kingdom” was sold in 2015 to Bountiful, Utah-based GNSL Pahrump LLC, the current owner, according to records with the Nye County Assessor’s Office. Property records also stated that construction was completed in 2004.

Maynard “Joe” Richards, prior owner and developer of the castle-style building, held the property for years and operated a strip club out of it in the heavily-traveled area of Pahrump on Highway 160.

Richards was also known for his list of bordellos in Nevada, Cherry Patch 2 in Lathrop Wells, and Cherry Patch Ranch and Mabel’s brothel in Crystal—brothels he held for decades.

In 2015, Richards sold his “kingdom” in Pahrump. He was also the owner of what was known at the time as the Death Valley Gateway Gazette, which he purchased in 1992, according to a Dec. 27, 2017 report in the Pahrump Valley Times.

Demolition day

Danny Murphy of Pahrump’s Full-Throttle Excavation said the project went very smoothly, once it got underway.

Among the heavy equipment used to take down the building were an excavator, a front loader and bulldozer.

“Actually, my guys all worked in sync, and I was very impressed with the way that they performed,” Murphy said on demolition day, March 15. “It went a lot quicker than I thought it was going to. We had people gathering around and taking pictures. Some were friends and others were just curious local residents.”

Selwyn Harris contributed to this report.

Contact reporter Jeffrey Meehan at jmeehan@pvtimes.com