Tag: brownstonegoldtown

County rejects Beverly Hillbillies casino derrick. Sometimes you have to wonder about the depths of self-destructiveness that Max Baer Jr. is capable of. After fighting for over ten years and plowing through three counties, he's finally found a spot to build his big dream casino. He's finally got zoning approval from the county to build a casino. He's finally got height variances to build a hotel tower. He has everything he needs to move forward with the project. And now he's fighting over the sign. The sign?

Originally his plan was to build a 200-foot oil derrick out by the highway that would spurt fire 24 hours a day. That soon scaled back to where there was no fire, probably because the price of natural gas keeps rising. Then the county said 200 feet was way too high for a sign, so he dropped it back to 143 feet, the same height as the hotel tower that was approved. The county's response? Still too high.

Jethro's people have said this sign is essential to draw business to the casino. Although I'd think that the massively big hotel-casino would be a draw in itself. I don't think anyone is going to zip right by this huge casino complex plastered on the side of a hill, missing it completely, but then spot the sign at the last second. That's nuts.

In similar sign news, the North Carson Crossing shopping center in Carson City (the Wal*Mart center - where College Parkway meets the freeway) just got their request for a 65-foot sign denied for similar reasons. A 45-foot sign has been approved for the center, but the developers say that won't stick far enough into the air to get attention. Their big concern, I guess, is that they want their sign to rise way above the freeway, instead of just a little bit above. The Board of Supervisors disagreed. And now, in the grand tradition of four-year-olds everywhere, the developers are saying they won't build a sign at all. Well. That will teach them.

And one more tidbit from the Record Courier article, the Gold Town casino project, which has been in the works for 15 freaking years, got approval from the Douglas County Commissioners.

Phase one will include the hotel and 92,000 square feet of casino space, 50,000 square feet of retail outlet shopping, restaurants and a convention facility. Costs are estimated at $125 million for the first phase,

Phase two includes a parking garage, conference center, event center, casino expansion, retail space, spa and wellness center, according to information from county officials.

Gold Town will be located at Hwy 395 and Sunridge Drive, right next to the Silver City RV Park.

With all the flap that's been going on about Jethro's Casino being built up in the hills across from Wal*Mart, another big casino project has been able to slip by almost unnoticed, until the Nevada Appeal highlighted it today.

The Brownstone GoldTown Hotel and Casino is being planned for the corner of South Sunridge Drive and Hwy 395. If I'm right, this is on the piece of land next to the Silver City RV Park that has been rumored to be getting a casino for about a decade now. Unlike Jethro's, this casino will definitely be down in the Carson Valley, and depending on how tall their 300-room hotel is, it could possibly be seen from all over the valley. Although I'd imagine the same restrictions that Jethro is currently fighting also apply to this Sunridge site, so the owners of GoldTown have probably designed their building to fit within the county guidelines, thereby avoiding all the trouble Jethro's gotten into. That means a short, squat hotel complex, rather than a big tower.

Construction is supposed to start by the end of the year, with Phase One open in 2009.

So this marks the third big casino project for the Indian Hills area. GoldTown will be at the bottom of the south slope, Bodine's will be at the base of the north slope, and Jethro's will be up on top of the hill. One of the commenters at the Appeal brings up the obvious question: "Just where are the patrons for these mega casino's coming from?"

Update: This photo shows where I think the project location is going to be. Just this side of the RV park you can see where the land was cleared away for a casino nearly a decade ago. We'll see if they have any better luck this time.