Fire-damaged casino back as Hacienda

Tuesday, Nov. 16, 1999 | 11:10 a.m.

Eighteen months after its destruction in a late-night blaze, the Gold Strike Inn hotel-casino near Boulder City reopened its doors with a new name, a new theme -- and much more casino floor space.

The property, now called the Hacienda hotel-casino, opened its doors at 6 p.m. Thursday. With a new Southwestern motif, the casino opened with 80,000 square feet of floor space, about double the size of its predecessor. The property retained its 375 hotel rooms, which were not destroyed in the fire.

"I really can't tell you the answer to it (the new theme), other than there was no point to going back to the way we were when we could modernize and make it beautiful," said Jenna Ewing, the Hacienda's director of sales and marketing.

Opening night, she said, "was marvelous. There was hardly a seat open."

Expansion also added a number of restaurants, including a Dairy Queen, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.

First opened more than 40 years ago, the Hacienda holds the distinction of being the first Nevada casino Arizona drivers see as they make their trek up U.S. Highway 93 toward Las Vegas. Located about 3 miles north of Hoover Dam, the casino draws as heavily off highway traffic as it does locals from nearby Boulder City.

The new property features 13 table games and nearly 700 slot machines. About $30 million was spent renovating the property, Ewing said.

The Hacienda is owned by David Belding, William Richardson and Michael Ensign, all senior executives at Mandalay Resort Group. The property had been closed since June 1998, when it was gutted by fire. Damage from the blaze was estimated at more than $25 million.