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Friday, June 23, 2000
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Wynn plans new-look Desert Inn
A resort's new owner says he will raze and rebuild the `most powerful opportunity on the Strip.'
By Sean Whaley
Donrey Capital Bureau
CARSON CITY -- Las Vegas casino entrepreneur Steve Wynn was licensed to run the Desert Inn by the Gaming Commission on Thursday, but he informed regulators that the historic and venerable hotel-casino that was once the home of Howard Hughes will be closed by Sept. 30 and razed to make way for new construction.
The property's 1,500 employees will be given hiring assistance at other local hotels and the chance to return to the new Desert Inn following its construction, which should see groundbreaking in nine months, Wynn said.
"The Des- ert Inn has to be rebuilt," he said. "The site has to be used and exploited in terms that are viable and real.
"The Desert Inn represents, quite simply, the most powerful opportunity on the Strip."
The property in its current form cannot be made profitable, he said. Many of the rooms are small and in poor condition, and the services people expect now from a top-of-the-line resort hotel are not available.
The five members of the Gaming Commission spent more time listening to Wynn describe his vision for the 218-acre property, which Wynn said has more Strip frontage than The Mirage and Treasure Island combined, than asking questions.
No tough questions were asked and the commission's unanimous approval came after less than an hour of testimony.
Wynn declined to offer much in the way of specific plans for the property, saying only that it would be better than any other property on the Strip when it opens, with the best entertainment, extensive gardens and natural light used everywhere, even in the casino.
The new project will not involve a theme like Treasure Island but exude more of an ambiance like the Bellagio, he said.
Wynn said the construction will involve a 59-story hotel-casino.
A newer tower and parking garage on the Desert Inn property will be saved and used for staff, he said. But the other buildings and historic structures will be razed.
The hotel will be the latest in the new generation of resorts, which bring in as much or more revenue from nongaming areas, including restaurants and entertainment, as they do from blackjack tables and slot machines, he said.
An art gallery will also be part of the project, Wynn said.
There will be a traditional showroom and a water-themed theater, he said.
Commissioners expressed some surprise that Wynn planned to close the existing casino, but Wynn said the decision was made in the past two days.
Wynn said the original 15-story tower, called the Augusta Tower, where Howard Hughes made his home for a time in the 1960s, has rooms of only 320 square feet.
"We don't do that anymore in Nevada," he said.
Rooms now are in the 500- to 700-square-foot range.
"There's nowhere to go," he said. "Two nights ago we came to the morbid conclusion we had to go this way."
Gaming Commissioner Augie Gurrola of Las Vegas told Wynn it will be a sad day when the Desert Inn is razed.
"When you raze the DI, I'm going to cry. I'm going to be right on the sidelines crying."
Commissioner Arthur Marshall of Las Vegas said he, too, will be saddened by the loss of the hotel, but that the time may have finally come to see it go.
"It's a great, legendary place," he said. "It's a great facility, it's got a great past and a great legend, and it was important to the town."
Wynn said he wasn't comfortable having to make the decision to close and raze the hotel, one of the original pioneering resorts dating back 50 years. It was Hughes' arrival in Las Vegas that changed the industry to one of major corporate investment, leading to its successes of today, he said.
The golf course will remain open for at least another year, and will be open for the LPGA tournament in October, but the land is under-used as a course and it will eventually be replaced, Wynn said.
Employees will be given more than 90 days, to Sept. 30, before the casino is closed, he said. With the tight labor market, the experienced employees at the Desert Inn should find jobs easily, and will be given assistance, Wynn said.
But if there is an employee exodus to other jobs, the casino may have to close sooner if it can't operate, he said.
Wynn purchased the property for $270 million with the nearly $500 million he received after selling Mirage Resorts to MGM Grand Inc. for $6.4 billion.
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Last Days of
the Desert Inn
News, history and your memories of the Strip landmark
Much of the Desert Inn including a newer tower and parking garage, will be saved, but the other buildings and historic structures at the Strip resort will be razed, new owner Steve Wynn announced Thursday. Built in its place will be a 59-story hotel-casino.
Photo by Jim Laurie.
Wynn talks to the Gaming Commission, which granted him a license to operate the hotel-casino Thursday. Next to him at the meeting in Carson City is attorney Frank Schreck.
Photo by Cathleen Allison/Review-Journal
A couple walk on the grounds of the Desert Inn on Thursday. New owner Steve Wynn announced plans to raze the Strip hotel-casino and build a new resort on the site.
Photo by Jeff Scheid.
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