Bourbon Square Casino | |
---|---|
![]() | |
![]() Bourbon Square in 2016 | |
Location | Sparks, Nevada, U.S. |
Address | 1040 Victorian Avenue |
Opening date | c.1961 |
Closing date | February 5, 2015 |
Theme | New Orleans |
Total gaming space | 15,776 sq ft (1,465.6 m2) [1] |
Owner | Northern Star Casinos |
Architect | Worth Group |
Previous names | Sparks Silver Club (1964–67) Karl's Silver Club (1967–84) Karl's Hotel and Casino (1984 onward) Silver Club (until 2009) Bourbon Street Casino (2013, unused) |
Renovated in | 2013 |
Coordinates | 39°32′06″N119°45′23″W / 39.535102°N 119.756352°W |
Website | Official website |
Bourbon Square Casino (formerly Silver Club and Bourbon Street Casino) was a casino and former hotel in Downtown Sparks, Nevada. The property operated until January 11, 2009, as Silver Club. The property reopened as Bourbon Square on August 1, 2013, and operated until February 5, 2015. It was demolished in 2018.
As of 1961, the property operated as Danny & Don's Bar. [2] [3] In 1964, it was renamed as Sparks Silver Club. [2] [4] As of 1965, the casino was operated by Phair Corporation, and was owned by Ben H. Coleman and Arthur Oetjen with 30 percent ownership each, and Lyndon E. Short with 40 percent. [5] [6] [7] That year, a man filed a complaint against Sparks Silver Club, alleging the casino denied paying him $10,000 after he won a keno game the previous October. The casino believed that cheating was involved in the man's win. [6] [8] [9] The Nevada Gaming Control Board requested the Nevada Gaming Commission to suspend or revoke the casino's gaming license over its refusal to pay the $10,000. [6] In June 1965, the gaming commission voted 4–1 to deny the request, allowing the casino to continue operations. [10] Karl Berge, who would become the paternal grandfather of future actress Jena Malone, purchased the casino in 1967. [11] [12]
In January 1980, Berge had tentative plans for a five-story, 200-room hotel to be built on a 0.89-acre site behind the casino, known then as Karl's Silver Club. [13] Sparks city planners as well as some nearby residents were concerned about parking and traffic in the area following the opening of the hotel, so the project was redesigned to include nearly twice as many parking spaces. The Sparks City Council approved plans for an eight-floor, 209-room hotel in May 1980, with construction expected to begin two months later. The hotel would cost between $3.8 million and $4.8 million. [14] [15] The hotel was to be built in a terraced stair-step shape rising away from residential houses to avoid casting shadows on them. [13] [16] In September 1980, the city approved redesigned plans to build the hotel in a vertical and conventional shape, allowing for lower construction costs. The redesigned hotel would include 235 rooms. It was designed by Fred Dolven, who said the original design would have caused the project to run 40 percent over initial estimates. [16]
Groundbreaking for the hotel took place on July 1, 1981, with completion expected by March 1982. Walker Boudwin Construction Co. was the general contractor for the $3.5 million, contemporary style hotel, which would be four stories tall and include 130 rooms. It was designed with the potential to add two additional floors in the future. The hotel would allow Karl's Silver Club to expand its clientele, which primarily consisted of tour bus customers. [17] In August 1981, the city council unanimously approved Berge's request to increase the hotel to six stories and 206 rooms. [18] The $5.2 million hotel opened in March 1982. [19] The hotel, named Karl's Hotel, held a grand opening ceremony on April 16, 1982. [20] [21] In May 1983, construction began on an $8 million renovation of the casino that would include convention space and new restaurants. [22] [23] The expanded casino project ultimately cost $14 million, and was opened in September 1984, with the property now known as Karl's Hotel and Casino. [11]
The property would later be known as Silver Club. It closed on January 11, 2009. [24] [25] In August 2009, Max Baer Jr., who played Jethro Bodine in The Beverly Hillbillies , began looking into purchasing the property and turning it into Jethro's Beverly Hillbillies Hotel & Casino. [26] Baer has tried to develop a Northern Nevada casino in at least 4 other locations. However, the plan, like his others, never came into fruition.
It reopened as Bourbon Square Casino on August 1, 2013, and continued operating until February 5, 2015. [24] [25] [27] Demolition of Bourbon Square began in November 2018. On May 15, 2019, the Nugget Event Center, an 8,000-seat amphitheater, opened in its former location. [28] [29]
The Stardust Resort and Casino was a casino resort located on 60 acres (24 ha) along the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. The Stardust was conceived by Tony Cornero, and construction began in 1954. Cornero died in 1955, and the project was taken over by his brother. The Stardust had numerous creditors, and construction was stopped in 1956, when the project ran out of money.
The Hacienda was a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, that operated from 1956 to 1996. It was opened by Warren Bayley, who owned other Hacienda properties in California as well. Bayley opened the hotel portion in June 1956, although the opening of the casino was delayed as the Nevada Gaming Control Board objected to his choice of casino manager, Jake Kozloff. The casino portion eventually opened on October 17, 1956. The $6 million property had 266 rooms and the largest pool on the Las Vegas Strip. Like its sister properties in California, the resort included a neon sign that depicted a cowboy riding a palomino horse.
The DunesHotel & Country Club was a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It opened on May 23, 1955, as the tenth resort on the Strip. It was initially owned by a group of businessmen from out of state, but failed to prosper under their management. It also opened at a time of decreased tourism, while the Strip was simultaneously becoming overbuilt with hotel rooms. A few months after the opening, management was taken over by the operators of the Sands resort, also on the Strip. This group failed to improve business and relinquished control less than six months later.
The Landmark was a hotel and casino located in Winchester, Nevada, east of the Las Vegas Strip and across from the Las Vegas Convention Center. Frank Caroll, the project's original owner, purchased the property in 1961. Fremont Construction began work on the tower that September, while Caroll opened the adjacent Landmark Plaza shopping center and Landmark Apartments by the end of the year. The tower's completion was expected for early 1963, but because of a lack of financing, construction was stopped in 1962, with the resort approximately 80 percent complete. Up to 1969, the topped-off tower was the tallest building in Nevada until the completion of the International Hotel across the street.
The New Frontier was a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The property began as a casino and dance club known as Pair O' Dice, opened in 1931. It was sold in 1941, and incorporated into the Hotel Last Frontier, which began construction at the end of the year. The Hotel Last Frontier opened on October 30, 1942, as the second resort on the Las Vegas Strip. The western-themed property included 105 rooms, as well as the Little Church of the West. The resort was devised by R.E. Griffith and designed by his nephew, William J. Moore. Following Griffith's death in 1943, Moore took over ownership and added a western village in 1948. The village consisted of authentic Old West buildings from a collector and would also feature the newly built Silver Slipper casino, added in 1950.
El Rancho Vegas was a hotel and casino at the north end of the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. It opened in 1941, as the first resort on the Strip, known then as part of Highway 91. It was located at what is now the southwest corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Sahara Avenue. The El Rancho Vegas was conceived by Thomas Hull, who owned several hotels in California and wanted to expand his operations to Las Vegas. He decided to build his new resort along Highway 91, on desert land located just outside of city limits. Hull intended to target motorists traveling from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, although his remote location was met with skepticism.
Boomtown Reno is a hotel and casino located in Verdi, Nevada, just west of the Reno–Sparks metropolitan area. The hotel has 318 guest rooms and suites and the casino has a 39,630 square feet (3,682 m2) gaming area.
The Castaways was a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It began in the 1930s, as a small motel called Mountain View. It became the San Souci in 1939, and underwent several ownership changes in its early years. A hotel addition opened on August 21, 1955, when the property became the Sans Souci Hotel. A casino, showroom, and restaurant were eventually opened on October 23, 1957. These facilities closed less than a year later, due to financial problems, although the hotel continued operations. Following a bankruptcy reorganization, the shuttered facilities reopened in May 1960. However, the property soon closed due to further financial difficulties.
The Edgewater Hotel and Casino is a casino hotel on the banks of the Colorado River in Laughlin, Nevada, owned and operated by Golden Entertainment.
Eldorado Resort Casino is a hotel and casino located in Downtown Reno, Nevada. It anchors a network of connected hotel-casinos in the downtown Reno core that included Circus Circus Reno and Silver Legacy Reno and are owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment.
J Resort, formerly the Sands Regency Casino Hotel, is a casino hotel in downtown Reno, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Jacobs Entertainment, Inc.
Golden Nugget Lake Tahoe Hotel & Casino is a casino hotel in Stateline, Nevada. It is one of four major casino hotels in Stateline. Horizon Lake Tahoe closed on April 1, 2014, to begin a $60 million renovation and rebranding as Hard Rock Lake Tahoe, which held its grand opening on January 28, 2015. It has 539 hotel rooms and 22,750 square feet (2,114 m2) of gaming space, with 431 slot machines, 33 table games and a William Hill race and sports book.
Robert Alan Cashell was an American businessman and politician. He served as the mayor of Reno, Nevada from 2002 to 2014. He served as the 28th lieutenant governor of Nevada from 1983 to 1987 and on the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents from 1979 to 1982. He served as a board member for Station Casinos from June 17, 2011 until his death on February 11, 2020. Cashell was a moderate member of the Republican Party and was a former member of the Democratic Party.
The El Rancho Hotel and Casino was a hotel and casino that operated on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. It originally opened on September 2, 1948, as the Navajo-themed Thunderbird. At the time, it was owned by building developer Marion Hicks and Lieutenant Governor of Nevada Clifford A. Jones. A sister property, the Algiers Hotel, was opened south of the Thuderbird in 1953. During the mid-1950s, the state carried out an investigation to determine whether underworld Mafia figures held hidden interests in the resort. Hicks and Jones ultimately prevailed and kept their gaming licenses. Hicks died in 1961, and his position as managing director was taken over by Joe Wells, another partner in the resort. Wells added a horse racing track known as Thunderbird Downs, located behind the resort. The Thunderbird also hosted numerous entertainers and shows, including Flower Drum Song and South Pacific.
Fitzgeralds Gaming was a gaming and hotel company based in Reno, Nevada, that operated four casinos under the Fitzgeralds brand. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2000, and subsequently sold all its properties.
Caesars Entertainment, Inc., formerly Eldorado Resorts, Inc., is an American hotel and casino entertainment company founded and based in Reno, Nevada that operates more than 50 properties. Eldorado Resorts acquired Caesars Entertainment Corporation and changed its own name to Caesars Entertainment on July 20, 2020.
The Sundowner is a former hotel and casino located in downtown Reno, Nevada. The Sundowner's 11-story hotel opened in May 1975, and the casino opened two months later. With 349 rooms, it was the largest hotel in Reno until the opening of the MGM Grand in 1978. A 19-story hotel tower was added in 1979, bringing the total number of rooms to 583.
Royal Nevada was a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. It was owned by Frank Fishman, who leased it to various individuals during its brief history. The resort was designed by Paul Revere Williams, and construction began in August 1954. The Royal Nevada opened on April 19, 1955, and was among four Las Vegas resorts to open within a six-week period, at a time when demand had declined for additional hotel rooms. The resort faced numerous financial problems, and was closed and reopened several times.
Richard L. Graves was an American businessman from Boise, Idaho. He was known for his ethical dealings and as a casino pioneer, promoting the use of slot machines as well as being involved in advertising. He died in Carson City, Nevada on January 12, 1990.
River Inn is a closed casino resort located alongside the Truckee River in Reno, Nevada. It was built in an area known for its hot spring. Granite Hot Springs operated on the site as early as the 1870s, later becoming Laughton's Hot Springs in 1884. The latter was opened by Sumner Laughton, who later changed the name to Lawton's Hot Springs, reflecting a common misspelling of his surname.