A movie complex will be built before the casino at Durango Station, which Station Casinos will build at the Beltway and Durango Drive. Photo by Clint Karlsen.

As a prelude to the eventual construction of a full-scale resort, Station Casinos announced Thursday it would build a 17-screen movie theater at the site of the planned Durango Station.

The movie theaters would eventually be incorporated into the resort, much in the same manner as at the company's Sunset Station, where the movie theaters were built before the casino about a decade ago.

The announcement may also signal a change in the company's development plans for the 67 acres on the southwest corner of the Las Vegas Beltway and Durango Drive.

Durango Station has been on the back burner of Station's construction schedule, with the company concentrating on the $800 million Red Rock Station in Summerlin and master-planning a redevelopment of the Wild Wild West casino, which encompasses 58 acres at Tropicana Avenue and Industrial Road.

"There is no question that we have accelerated our development levels in Las Vegas because we believe in the economy of the market," Station Casinos Chief Financial Officer Glenn Christenson said. The company also controls several other potential casino sites in the valley, including along the Las Vegas Beltway near Flamingo Road and near Interstate 15 and Cactus Drive.

Durango Station, however, has been a concern for neighboring residents in the Rhodes Ranch community because of the size and scope of the project as well as its proximity to a nearby elementary school and neighborhoods.

Clark County commissioners in December reduced the allowed size of the casino to 120,000 square feet, which would be Station's largest single gaming floor. No decision has been made on the size of the hotel tower.

Station Casinos will begin construction of the movie theaters in the fall, with completion scheduled within nine months. Regal Cinemas will manage the complex, and the companies will share in the revenues. No cost was given for the project.

"Putting movie theaters on the site is an entertainment aspect that is significantly underserved in the area," Christenson said.

The movie theaters serve two purposes, he added: giving nearby residents an entertainment option and providing the company a revenue source off what is otherwise vacant land.

It also might help to soften the heated debate about the scope of Durango Station.

"We've been working with the neighbors out there to alleviate any concerns they have toward our project," Christenson said.

Mike Tomko, a Rhodes Ranch homeowner who has been critical of Durango Station, welcomed the movie theater.

"With all the construction going on in the area, flood control channels and roads, this type of construction is welcome," he said. "It's hard to get across town to go to the movies, so it will be nice to have theaters close."

Tomko said residents would welcome the casino's amenities, but the real issues are the size of the casino and the height of the hotel tower.

Lisa Mayo-De Riso, an activist against the expansion of neighborhood casinos, called the movie theaters "a nice gesture," but said it was an attempt to detract from the issue of building the large casino complex about 1,500 feet from Tanaka Elementary School.

Little can be done to change the plans away from a casino because of a development agreement that had been signed by the county and the properties's original owner, Rhodes Ranch.

"Something of this size belongs on the Strip, not next to a neighborhood," Mayo-De Riso said.

Station Casinos recently announced it would push up construction on the second phase of Red Rock Station while unveiling plans for the Wild Wild West site later this year.

Deutsche Bank gaming analyst Marc Falcone said Station Casinos could present building plans in which the company would have additional Las Vegas Valley projects well into the next decade.

"The development schedule that management could present to investors by year end would outline a multiyear Las Vegas development schedule, which could create a clear and visible growth pipeline for the next five to 10 years," Falcone said.