Council OKs steps to revitalize Moulin Rouge

Thursday, Nov. 18, 1999 | 9:52 a.m.

The Las Vegas City Council Wednesday unanimously approved steps to revitalize the decaying Moulin Rouge hotel-casino to its brief 1955 splendor and historic significance.

The council granted CBC Financial Corp. a special use permit and approved the development plan for the 5,875-square-foot expansion of the establishment at 900 W. Bonanza Road, which in its heyday was the first desegregated resort in the city.

Canadian real estate developer Bart Maybie purchased the hotel for $3 million in 1997 and plans to sink more than $8 million of his own money into the aging building.

The city staff and Las Vegas Planning Commission had recommended approval for the special use permit for the property that has a nonrestricted gaming license and the development plan for the 5.4-acre site.

The developer plans to re-open the Moulin Rouge in three phases -- the first of which was approved Wednesday and will result in construction of a building on the west side of the existing structure.

Within that first phase development will be 75 slot machines, a kitchen and dining area, a bar and a sports book .

The first phase of renovations will cost about $500,000 and is expected to be completed in January. After that is finished, work will get under way to restore 12,000-square-feet of space inside the 44-year-old building.

The Moulin Rouge opened in 1955 as the city's first interracial resort in an era where blacks, including entertainers, were barred from casinos downtown and on the Strip. The Club Rouge showroom featured top entertainers such as Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Sammy Davis Jr., who went to the Moulin Rouge after their Strip performances.

Despite what appeared to be a successful venture, the resort, which had received considerable media attention at the time, closed about six months after it opened because of reported financial problems. Others say its demise was hastened by operators of whites-only resorts who believed the Moulin Rouge was taking too many white customers from the Strip

In the four decades since its closing, the landmark has mostly remained shuttered except for occasional stabs at renovating the nightclub for boxing matches, concerts and black community events.

Those past restoration attempts led to the Moulin Rouge's nomination in 1992 to the National Register of Historic Places. That designation has helped community groups get grants to study re-opening. But none of those efforts proved to be successful.