Old Reno
From 1964 to 1978, there were five tall ladies living on Virgina Street, over the entrance to the Primadonna Club, that announced in no uncertains terms, that you were in the middle of the action in Reno. These lighted ladies standing 20 feet and more in height were for many, as much a landmark as the famous Reno Arch, which lived just a few feet to their left.
Originally called the Club Prima Donna, this casino was opened in 1955 by Ernie Primm. Primm had been part owner in the Palace Club from 1943 to 1951. Primm had learned the gambling business in California, like Harrah and Smith. Primm had run card clubs in southern California before coming to Reno.
After selling his part of the Palace Club, Primm fought for four years in local
courts and up to the State Supreme Court, to establish a casino on the west side
of Virginia Street. Originally this was to be named the Golden Gate Club.
There had been, since gambling was legalized in Reno, an imaginary Red Line
drawn down Virginia Street. To the west of this line
no new casinos would be permitted unless accompanied by hotel rooms. This rule
actually proved it's worth in the late 70's when new casinos were permitted, without
hotel rooms to attract visitors. This over-building resulted in casinos closing
downtown as the local market, and existing rooms could not supply the rooms
necessary to fuel the larger number of gamblers required to keep the money
flowing.
When the makeup of the Council changed in 1955, Primm's club now called the Club Primadonna was finally licensed to open with 50 slots, 3 craps games, 3 roulette games, and 9 21 games. Not a big club, but a full sized casino operation. Prior to the Primadonna, the buildings had housed a coffee shop, apartments, and a Jeweler's.
The Primadonna was one of the clubs that pushed the Reno Council to create legislation requiring any club that closed during the slow winter months to go through the licensing process anew. This effectively prevented these closures which put hundreds of workers out of a job, and threatened the casino business as a whole.
First operating only out of the Virginia Street side, Primm expanded operation to include the Sierra Street entrance. In 1964 when Primm placed the landmark showgirls on his casino entrance, he had also opened a 2nd story showroom which featured 3 nightly shows of "Paree, Ooh Laa Laa", an adult oriented revue.
Primm eventually purchased property on the west side of Sierra Street, and created a covered walkway bridge from the Virginia Street property to the Sierra Street casino.
Primadonna to Sahara to Hilton. 1974 to 1988.
The Primadonna properties were sold by Ernie Primm
to Del Webb Corp. in 1974.
Operated as "Del Webb's Primadonna" from 1974, The Primadonna then became Del Webbs Sahara Reno in 1978.
In 1978, Del Webb Corp. was reputedly the largest gaming corporation in the world, and opened the Sahara Reno casino and hotel on the corner of Commercial and Sierra.
By 1981 Sahara Reno sold all its properties to the Hilton Hotel Corp. which operated the old Primadonna as the Sahara Virginia Street Casino, and renamed the hotel-casino on Sierra Street to the Hilton Reno, in operation under this name until 1988.
Pacos, the Flamingo, and the Golden Phoenix. 1988 to 2006.
In 1988, the Virginia Street Casino became Pacos, and in 1989
the Sierra Street casino-hotel was reopened as the Flamingo Hilton.
The Flamingo Hilton was operated from 1989 until October 2001.
At that time the property was sold and closed until reopening in April of
2002 as the Golden Phoenix.
The Golden Phoenix Sierra Street properties closed in 2005, and are being converted to condminiums while the Virginia Street casino remains shuttered as of October 2007.
Fernando Leal, the principal owner of the old Sierra Street and Virgina Street properties, is set to close on the purchase of neighbor Fitzgerald's Hotel Casino. Plans for the old Primadonna casino are uncertain at this time.
The Golden Phoenix made its mark in history, when on 15 November 2003, according to various sources, it hosted the longest craps roll in Nevada history.
On Saturday night of the 15th, beginning at about 11 pm, the roll began and
continued on until 4 hours and 15 minutes later, the shooter finally sevened out.
As a result of the remarkable achievment, the casino lost an estimated $70,000
while the boxman and tables' shift supervisor were fired based on poor accounting
during the roll.
The previous record was under 2 hours, and made at the California Club in Vegas.
Nugget, Horseshoe, Silver Spur, and Money Tree:
Casinos on the West Side of Virginia Street
Shortly after the Primadonna (nee Prima Donna) was opened, the Horseshoe Club opened in 1956, a little south of the Primadonna at 229 North Virginia, across from Harrah's, and the Nevada Club.
Next door to the Horseshoe, the Silver Spur opened in 1968. In 1981 the Silver Spur and the Horseshoe were purchased by The Mason Corp., and the two casinos were merged.
Between the Primadonna and the Horseshoe was the location of the Virginia Bar from 1941 to 1945, which became the Picadilly Club from 1946 to 1952, and finally the Nugget. Seemingly contrary to the Red Line rule, some casino action was always available at the Virginia Bar as well as the Picadilly Club and of course at the Nugget.
The Picadilly was a British Pub themed bar, and offered slots, poker and roulette. The Virginia Bar was a favorite of off-duty casino workers including Bill Harrah, and offered slots, 21, and craps games.
The Nugget was for a time known as Jim Kelly's Nugget until 1990. At one time the Nugget had 21 tables, craps, and a Big 6 Wheel in addition to slot machines.
On the corner near Second Street, Charles Mapes and his sister Gloria opened The Money Tree casino in 1968, which operated until to 1982.
Today in 2006, only the Nugget and a small remnant of the Primadonna continue to operate. The Nugget is a slot parlor, and what was the Primadonna will be re-opening with a new name after 2007.
The Horseshoe Club
In 1978 the Money Tree Casino opened at just the same time as Circus Circus, and the MGM Grand. Both those properties had attached hotels to provide customers and amenities for the customers, such as parking. So we have a situation where the market has a good deal more supply, but only 2/3 the demand via hotel rooms is built in. Add to that the gas woes of the late 70's and a recipe for financial disaster it brewed. The Money Tree could not survive.
Troubles began for the Reno area when two separate things happened. First Harold's Club was sold to Hugh's Summa Corporation, and second, Lincoln Fitzgerald died.
As a result of Fitzgerald's death and the changing hands of Harold's Club, the core of Downtown Reno was in jeopardy. Linking these two occurances was Philip Griffith. Griffith headed a group that came to own three of the engines of downtown Reno's economy; Harold's Club, Fitzgerald's Club, and the Nevada Club. Not helping the situation was the poor econmic times introduced during the Reagan presidency. However, better managed organizations survived the times to thrive in the current market.
Griffith set his sights outside the Reno market in the mid 80's and led the Nevada Club and Harold's to closure. His goals were to expand the Fitzgerald name he had acquired practically for free from Lincoln Fitzgerald's widow, and leave the Reno properties to whomever might pick them up. This lack of management enthusiasm essentially killed the core and the golden geese of downtown Reno when both Harold's and the Nevada Club were closed in the mid 90's, never to re-open.
While the engines of downtown Virginia Street died, they took with them the life that at one time permeated the Virginia Street block. While properties with hotel rooms grew and prospered, such as Harrah's, the Eldorado and Circus Circus, the absence of Harold's Club and the Nevada Club left the area outside the cocoon of the resort hotels inundated with bums, vagrants, and street people who drove away the patrons needed to keep the Nugget, Horseshoe, and the Money Tree alive and thriving.
When in 1989 Bob Cashell who had successfully opened Boomtown Casino, bought and opened the shuttered Horseshoe and Silver Spur which was bankrupted by the Las Vegas drain, he was the unwitting witness to the demise brought on by Phil Griffith and others, as his Horseshoe closed in 1995. The cause of the closure could directly be traced to the closure of The Mapes, The Nevada Club, Harold's Club, and The Riverside, and the resultant increase in crime, panhandlers, and homeless people left to roam the downtown area.
The sad truth is that the well-managed, profitable casinos would have remained profitable and opened if left un-encumbered by mismanagement.
Back to Old Reno Home.
Much of the information here is from "The Rise of the Biggest Little City: An Encyclopedic History of Reno Gaming 1931 - 1981" by Dwayne Kling. ISBN 087417340X, published by University of Nevada Press, 2000.
Copyright © 2006, Sunzeri Consultants. All rights reserved. Photos and text may not be reproduced or otherwise distributed without the author's expressed permission.