GCB endorses deal giving gaming giant 42 acres

Wednesday, June 3, 1998 | 4:58 a.m.

The land is between the Monte Carlo Hotel-Casino and the new Bellagio. Mirage is building the $1.3 billion Bellagio and is 50 percent owner of Monte Carlo.

Under the deal that must be reviewed June 23 by the board's parent state Gaming Commission, a Mirage subsidiary will merge with Boardwalk Casino Inc.

Boardwalk has a 652-room hotel and casino at the site, which will continue to operate. The property includes nearly eight acres with an 817-foot frontage on the Strip.

Mirage also has 34 acres of land behind the frontage, most of it part of the old Dunes Hotel golf course.

Mirage executive Dan Lee told the board Mirage wouldn't make many changes at the Boardwalk, acquired with two other parcels in a $144 million deal, because it's busy getting the adjacent Bellagio up and running.

Lee also repeated Mirage chief Steve Wynn's earlier comments that the deal reflects continued optimism about the Las Vegas economy. But he also said no final decision on whether to expand the Boardwalk or even replace it would be made for three or four years.

Mirage is scheduled to open Bellagio in the fall, is completing the Beau Rivage resort in Biloxi, Miss., and is working on the design for a new megaresort in Atlantic City, N.J.

In other action, the GCB recommended:

-Station Casinos Inc. to take over gambling operations at the King 8 Gambling Hall near the Las Vegas Strip on July 1. Station plans to rename it the Wild Wild West Gambling Hall & Hotel.

-Former NGC member Clair Haycock and former NGC Chairman John O'Reilly at separate southern Nevada gambling ventures. Haycock is a partner in SSM Gaming LLC, a slot route operator; and O'Reilly is acquiring an interest in the Casablanca in Mesquite.

-Atronic Casino Technology Ltd. of Scottsdale, Ariz., and its German parent company, headed by Paul Gauselmann, as a slot manufacturer and distributor. The company, which plans to operate in Reno and Las Vegas, currently does business in international markets.

-Las Vegas car dealer James Marsh to run the Banc Club of Tonopah. Marsh currently runs gambling at the Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah, and will move his slots and staff to the Banc Club, located in an old bank building.