Friday, January 30, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

EDITORIAL: New life for the Moulin Rouge?

Announcement on historic property good news for the area

A group of Las Vegas businessmen announced this week they have acquired the defunct Moulin Rouge property on Bonanza Road for $12.1 million.

At its opening in 1955, the Moulin Rouge was the city's first integrated casino. (In those days, black entertainers were welcome to perform in the city's casinos -- but were generally not welcome to dine in their restaurants.)

The 1960 agreement between civic leaders and representatives of the NAACP, ending that era of segregation, was signed at the Moulin Rouge, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

But the history of the 15-acre property is a checkered one.

In its brief heyday, after-hours shows at the property's Tropican-can showroom drew such notables as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Harry Belafonte. But while the location is barely a mile from Glitter Gulch, it lies west of the railroad tracks. It is not easily visible from the downtown, and to approach the site from downtown involves passing beneath both the Union Pacific tracks and Interstate 15, through an area of soup kitchens and industrial facilities not conducive to pedestrian traffic.

After its grand opening in 1955, the Moulin Rouge stayed open as a full-fledged casino only six months before closing in bankruptcy. Since then, a series of owners have failed to return the property to its former glory.

And last May, a fire claimed most of the closed-down casino, though the building's trademark tower and neon sign -- now held up with the help of metal braces -- were spared, along with outlying buildings now functioning as an apartment complex.

Now, Dale Scott, Chauncey Moore and Rod Bickerstaff say they plan a $200 million new project on the site, including a 40,000-square-foot casino and 500 hotel rooms.

The trademark tower and neon sign will be retained, the group announced Thursday, while other structures not leveled by last spring's fire could face the wrecking ball.

These entrepreneurs face considerable hurdles, the largest being the current perception of the Moulin Rouge's neighborhood. But any commitment to invest new capital in the area is of course welcome.

Providing the Moulin Rouge Development Corp. can indeed fulfill its plans with private capital, Thursday's announcement is good news indeed for downtown Las Vegas -- and one that should be welcomed and encouraged by all.