Rouge remake

Erin Neff

Tuesday, Oct. 12, 1999 | 11:32 a.m.

Despite years of failed attempts at restoring the Moulin Rouge hotel-casino to its brief 1955 splendor, a Canadian real estate developer has decided to sink more than $8 million of his own money into the aging historic building.

The Las Vegas Planning Commission on Thursday will consider a special-use permit for a 6,000-square-foot expansion of the western dining area at the 900 W. Bonanza Road hotel.

Bart Maybie, who purchased the hotel for $3 million in 1997, has grown weary of offers by community-based groups and casino moguls to restore the city's most noted black cultural icon, his business partner said.

"There have been people who approached Bart over the past two years saying they'd try to get HUD money or loans," Moulin Rouge General Manager Fred Bilawey said. "But he finally said, 'I'm not getting anywhere with these groups. I'm going to do it myself.' "

Maybie, who has lived in Las Vegas for about 10 years, was out of the country and unavailable for comment.

City planner Robert Genzer said his staff is recommending approval for the use permit.

"We really don't have any issues with what they're trying to do," Genzer said. "They have an existing unrestricted gaming license and everything looks to be in order."

Bilawey said the expansion will be just a small part of the overall renovations, tentatively expected to be finished by December 2000.

The first phase includes covering a patio overlooking the pool and building an expanded dining room called Maxine's. The first phase also includes construction of an 80-foot bar with 75 slot machines.

Bilawey said he hopes the first phase of renovations, which will cost $500,000, will 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 second phase includes adding two bars, 300 slot machines, and a bandstand in the main casino area, which is overlooked by two historic murals reminiscent of Toulouse-Lautrec's Paris Moulin Rouge posters but featuring black showgirls.

The Moulin Rouge opened in 1955 as the city's first interracial resort in an era when blacks, including entertainers, were barred from casinos downtown and on the Strip. Acts at the Club Rouge showroom entertained such greats as Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Sammy Davis Jr.

Its closure a mere six months later for financial reasons seemed incongruent with its apparent success. Many argued the resort was too popular for its own good, drawing too many customers from the Strip.

The Moulin Rouge was also the place top casino executives met in 1960 to sign an agreement ending segregation on the Las Vegas 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 soul food offerings.

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 reopening. But none of the efforts have proven successful.

Bilawey sees more cultural future than historic failure in the site.

"I have a vision for this place, and we're going to get there," Bilawey said while walking past a row of dust-covered Double Bonus video poker machines and pointing out the upholstery needs in the once-packed showroom now cluttered with old lounge booths.

But so far, Maybie hasn't had success finding business partners.

In May gambling entrepreneur Bob Stupak met with Maybie in an effort to form a partnership to restore the hotel. Stupak said they planned $20 million to restore the hotel, but Maybie denied the two were ever close to a deal.

Stupak is not at all involved with this restoration attempt, Bilawey said.

In recent years the City Council has rejected several requests by community groups for loans or funding assistance to renovate the site.

Councilman Gary Reese, whose ward includes the historic west Las Vegas in and around the Moulin Rouge, said he can still offer only moral support for this effort.

"I support them as much as I can, but I'm not going to filter any money over there until I see definite plans," Reese said.

Mayor Oscar Goodman also pledged to support the restoration effort and said it could help spur redevelopment in the surrounding west Las Vegas area.

"Whenever you have a historical monument, no matter what it is, the neighborhood in which it's situated really takes pride," Goodman said. "Las Vegas was one of the last bastions of what I consider to be segregation.

"The Moulin Rouge could really rejuvenate that area and have an important role in remembering that era."

The renovation will include painting the current all-white concrete with softer plum and lavender tones. The front of the building will be landscaped with trees and fountains.

Maybie has already spent about $800,000 to upgrade security on the site in a crime-riddled neighborhood.

He bought the neighboring Desert Breeze apartments at the same time he purchased the Moulin Rouge in 1997. The area has since been gated, known drug dealers were evicted and rental units were changed from weekly to monthly.

About 1,000 people currently live in the apartments.

The final phase of renovation will include a complete renovation of the 8,000-square-foot showroom, including construction of a bar in the back of the room. Already large rolls of carpeting that had been filling the 351-seat theater have been removed.

Every day Bilawey sees a little progress, whether it's from the 12 men lugging refrigerators out of the place or a call from someone who wants to book a wedding in the restored theater.

"This is going to be a great place for a party," Bilawey said.

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