Co-founder of La Costa Resort
Allard Frank Roen, 87, who co-founded La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, died Thursday of complications from heart disease, according to news reports. He was a longtime resident of Carlsbad.
An avid golfer, Roen established the Tournament of Champions at the Desert Inn in the 1950s and moved the event to La Costa after he became manager there in 1967. For more than 20 years the tournament attracted top professional players, including Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino.
Roen was born May 8, 1921, in Cleveland and graduated from Duke University. He served in the Navy during World War II.
He moved to Las Vegas in the late 1940s to help develop the Desert Inn. When the hotel’s owners acquired the Stardust, he became managing director of both sites. In the early 1960s, Roen was among the first hotel operators in Las Vegas to allow minorities as guests at his hotels.
He sold La Costa resort in 1987 and invested in thoroughbred horses.
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