French residents of Vegas gather for first look at new resort

Robert Macy

Thursday, July 15, 1999 | 9:31 a.m.

LAS VEGAS - Some 200 members of Las Vegas' French community turned out Wednesday for a taste of Paris on the Strip.

Famed French entertainer Line Renaud drew cheers from the audience as she helped christen a two-thirds-size replica of the famous Arc de Triomphe at the new Paris-Las Vegas hotel-casino.

The dedication came on the 210th anniversary of Bastille Day, the French independence day.

"My love affair with Las Vegas started 55 years ago with a show at the Dunes hotel," Ms. Renaud said, speaking in the shadows of the replica of the famous French landmark and just a short distance from a 50-story, half-size replica of the Eiffel Tower.

Ms. Renaud said that after opening the show at the Dunes, across the Strip from the Paris hotel site, she was hooked on the city.

"From that moment, I always had two loves - Paris and Las Vegas, Las Vegas and Paris," she said before singing the French national anthem. Members of the crowd joined her in singing.

Paul Pusateri, president of Bally's-Las Vegas and Paris-Las Vegas, said the idea of a resort replicating the French City of Lights was first suggested 4 1/2 years ago by Arthur Goldberg, chairman of the parent Park Place Entertainment Corp.

Pusateri said members of the resort's design team went to Paris and met with the city's mayor and minister of tourism.

"Over there we experienced the charm of the city," Pusateri said.

He said they were given some of the original design plans for the Eiffel Tower, along with paint chips to make the Las Vegas project as authentic as possible.

The $760 million, 2,916-room resort is scheduled to open Sept. 1. Pusateri said the project was on budget and well ahead of schedule.

Andre Portal, the honorary consul general of France in Las Vegas, said the resort will provide a striking replica of the famous city.

"We have fewer lights than the city of Las Vegas, but we had the name (City of Lights) first."