Tag: bodines

There's been a bunch of construction happening all along my daily commute into town, so I think it's time to roll up all the updates into one post here and check in on the progress.

First, the Bodine's Casino, at the corner of 395 and Clear Creek. Work on the basement parking garage is finished, and now they're laying the main casino floor on top of it. This work they're doing here is what's going to be at "ground level" of the new casino. Once they finish with the floor they should be able to start building upwards, and the casino itself will begin coming together.

Right next door to Bodine's, the Carson City Fairgrounds is getting a complete makeover. This multi-million dollar project is kind of a side effect of the casino project, a promise the original developer made to improve the fairgrounds with a new rodeo arena and other facilities. And even though the original developer backed out of Bodine's, the new developer kept the promise. Hence all the work that's being done here to rebuild.

Ribiero's new Carson-Tahoe Quail office/retail complex still only has one building underway, but the framing on that building is nearly complete. This is right next to Albertson's, on the site of the old Oasis Trailer Park.

Of course the Casino Fandango always seems like it has hundred of new projects going on at any one time. Here, the new hotel tower is getting its fourth, and final, floor framed up. After this they'll top it off with a roof, then start on the interior.

This Marriott Courtyard is supposed to open late this year.

Work on the facade and the interior of the movie theater is still continuing. We're getting close to opening day; probably less than two months away now.

And steel is rising on the casino expansion and sky bridge at the southwest corner of the Fandango. This steel skeleton now dwarfs the parking garage, and even dwarfs the new hotel in sheer height. This building will house the escalators that will take you up and over Curry Street so you can easily get to the movie theater from the casino.

The expansion to the First Presbyterian Church has finally started construction. Last year the whole church was in danger of being demolished, but after negotiations with the city, only the back part was torn down last January to make way for a new sanctuary. The foundation for that new sanctuary has been poured, and the cinder block walls should start rising any day now.

And finally, for the update that isn't, here's a photo of the Ormsby House, sitting as forlorn as ever. I still see people on the site, and there are work lights inside, so I hold out hope that work is actually progressing on the interior of the building. But from the outside, there is literally nothing going on. I think there's even an actual tumbleweed blowing by the building in this picture.

And on that down note, we'll end this update. If you have any pictures of construction happening in other parts of town, don't hesitate to send them in!

Yes, I'm back from my vacation, unpacking, decompressing and trying to get back into the groove. I came back to see some progress on a few construction projects, which is always exciting.

The arena at the Carson City Fairgrounds has been wiped out, part of the project to improve and update the fairgrounds. I know some of the plans for what should be done in this space were kind of controversial; hopefully everything worked out and everyone will be happy.

The Bodine's Casino, right next door, is starting to form up its pillars. This is supposed to be an underground parking garage, with the casino and restaurants above it. Bodine's is also footing a large part of the bill for the fairgrounds improvements.

And, in the two weeks I was gone, the Casino Fandango hotel went vertical in a big way. Looks like the whole first floor is all framed up, and they're just about ready to start on the second. Moving fast!

I'm sure there's a lot more that happened in the last two weeks. I have about fourteen newspapers I have to go through!

Front page article in the Nevada Appeal today about Bodine's Casino, and the construction going on down there. The out-of-state developer is Mike Pegram, a restauranteur and racing horse owner from Arizona. But he's partnered with some local casino owners, Gary and Cindy Carano, who own the Eldorado in downtown Reno and are partners in the Silver Legacy. Together they've scaled down the plans for Bodine's, down to 26,000 feet from the 66,000 the previous developer was planning on building. But they're leaving space to add on, up to another 8,000 square feet. And it isn't going to have a Western theme, because according to Pegram that idea has been "overused".

Inside the casino will be all-slots, with no table games. It will have two bars and a Chicago-themed restaurant and pizzeria, with a replica of an old Chicago L train. And they're still building the underground parking garage, even though I said the other day it didn't look like they were digging deep enough.

And, at least for the moment, they are keeping the name "Bodine's" for the casino. Which should be an interesting wrinkle for Max Baer, Jr, if he ever gets his casino built. How can he convince people that "Jethro's" and "Bodine's" aren't related properties?

I put up some pictures last week of the work that was being done at the Bodine's casino site. It took a few days, but the Nevada Appeal finally made mention of it on Wednesday. Although there wasn't a whole lot of new information in that article, mostly because the new developer couldn't be reached to comment. So I guess no news means there have been no changes, and they're still following through with the original plan to build a casino on the corner there. According to the building permits it will be two stories and 66,000 square feet. Not sure if it still includes the underground parking that was talked about last year, because the bulldozers have stopped digging, and the hole they dug really doesn't seem deep enough.

This and the Fandango Hotel will definitely be two exciting projects to watch in South Carson this year.

Gosh, I'd say it's about time. The long-stalled Bodine's casino project looks like it's finally underway. This project was first announced in November 2005, on the site of the popular Bodine's Restaurant south of town. The restaurant closed the following January and was demolished last summer.

Construction on the casino was supposed to start right away, but the site languished for months, and then finally the news came down that the project had been bought out by a new developer. That was last November, and nothing had happened since then. Not until earlier this week, when the bulldozers finally rolled in and started moving earth for the new construction.

So I guess this project is finally on, after a full year of waiting around and stalling. Right now they seem to be digging a deep hole to put the underground parking into.

You can follow the whole story, and keep up on future updates, at tag:bodines.

So Bodine's restaurant was torn down why again? Oh yeah, that's right - to build a casino. And it's been how long now that the site has been empty? Since June. So what's going on with the new casino? Becky Bosshart fills us in today at the Nevada Appeal.

Looks like the developer, the one that came up with the plans to put a casino on that site, and bought and demolished the restaurant that was the favorite of many, pulled out of the deal. He's now selling the land to another developer, who wants to do the same thing: build a casino. This is just what everyone was afraid of, an out-of-state developer making promises and then not living up to them. And this time, Carson was actually left with less than we started with, because Bodine's was taken away.

And the new developer promises they'll keep the plans pretty similar to what the original developer had come up with. But this new developer has never worked in Nevada before, and has never built or owned a casino. And it's going to take them anywhere from nine months to two years before they get their gaming license. So nothing's going to be happening to the land during that time. Makes you think that maybe they were a little premature in demolishing the restaurant?

I've been meaning to take this photo and post it for weeks. Every day I drive by and say, "Gosh, I really need to stop and get that picture. Maybe tomorrow." I've been shirking my duties, is what I've been doing. So here I am to rectify that.

This photo is the site of the old Bodine's restaurant. Demolition took place last month, and now the restaurant, trailer park, outbuildings, and trees are all gone. There's just that one big tree that they spared from the bulldozer, one solitary reminder of the resturant that used to be there.

So long Bodine's. And soon, hello casino.

Bodine's Restaurant has fallen. They brought in the excavator this morning and completely flattened it. By 9am it was splinters.

The restaurant was the last building left on this corner lot. Now all they have to do is haul away the debris and take down the sign, the flagpole and a few more trees. After that's done they'll have a clean lot, and then they can start cutting the foundation for the new casino.

It's just as much of a shame to see the old trees go as it is the casino, especially this large cottonwood that was right out front. But it does seem like they're leaving a lot of the trees around the perimeter, so the lot won't be completely bare. It will still be fenced in by a berm of trees, isolated from the fairgrounds in its own shady little spot. Buildings can be put together in a year, but it takes decades for trees to grow this big. They'd be wise to keep a few.

The demolition of Bodine's Restaurant continues. Many of the trees in the old mobile home park have fallen. All that's left now is the restaurant building itself.

The demolition of the old Bodine's restaurant began in earnest today. About two weeks ago they fenced off the property, and all this week heavy equipment has been massing on the site. Today the first blows were struck.

The trailer park next door, JT's, was the first victim. All those mobile homes, some of which had probably been there 40 years, were reduced to this jumbled pile of trash. A sodden mess of aluminum, vinyl, wood, wallpaper, mattresses, fiberglass and wiring. All that's left of so many homes. So many hideously ugly homes.

Here's the site of the old trailer park, free and clear. They were very careful to avoid all the trees while they were working, but I'm sure the trees aren't being saved. They can't be; they're in the way of the casino. That's the biggest loss here - that area would have made a good addition to Fuji Park.

One mobile home left standing. But its time will come, oh yes.

And after the trailers are all gone, it will be time for the main event: the demolition of the restaurant itself. They're already done a ton of work inside, stripping out most of the fixtures and furniture. They'll probably just tear into it with the excavator, flattening it piece by piece. All finished in a single eight-hour shift.

But that's not until next week, most likely. I can't imagine they'll do any work over the weekend. Why do they always start these things on a Friday? It was the same way with the old firehouse. Start Friday, take two days off, then finish Monday and Tuesday. Don't jobs start on Monday anymore?