Historic Mapes Hotel demolished after prolonged legal wrangling

Scott Sonner

Monday, Jan. 31, 2000 | 11:24 a.m.

RENO -- In the end, nothing -- not petitions, protests, lawsuits nor even Lady Luck herself -- could save the historic Mapes Hotel.

On Sunday morning, 75 pounds of explosives tucked into the hotel-casino's support columns were ignited, and the art deco walls came tumbling down.

"It was like slow motion," said Bob Meyer, a courthouse security officer with a close-up view.

After more than a dozen dynamite blasts, the brick building slowly collapsed in a wave, sending a giant dust cloud for blocks. An estimated 10,000 people watched from the street and a local television station broadcast the event live.

The implosion, challenged in lawsuits that went all the way to the Nevada Supreme Court, represented a major defeat for the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

"I don't know of a single city that regrets having held onto an important landmark," National Trust president Richard Moe said. "I know of many -- and Reno joined them today -- that regret having lost one. It is sad, tragic and so unnecessary."

Others said it was overdue. The city wanted to clear the land to expand its riverside district of art galleries, restaurants and shops.

"It is time to move on because downtown Reno is dying," said Pam McDowell of Reno.

About 150 people who disagreed gathered at a park minutes after the implosion for a wake, where bag pipes wailed "Amazing Grace" and souvenir bricks sold for $1 each.

Built in 1947, the 12-story Mapes ushered in the modern era of gambling. It was the first building in the nation constructed to house a casino, hotel and live entertainment under one roof.

It was the place to be seen during its glory years in the '50s and '60s, when entertainers such as Mae West, the Marx Brothers and Sammy Davis Jr. performed in its top-floor, window-walled Sky Room with a spectacular view of the Sierra Nevada.

The Mapes closed on Dec. 17, 1982 and remained boarded up while various restoration proposals fizzled.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation listed the Mapes in 1998 as one of North America's most endangered historic buildings. The trust had not lost a battle to protect a site on that list since the list's inception in 1989.

After exhausting more traditional attempts to save the Mapes, local preservationists plugged more than 400 silver dollars into a slot machine earlier this month, hoping to win a $33 million jackpot and buy the old hotel.

They won their $400 back, but failed to hit the progressive Megabucks jackpot connected to slot machines throughout Nevada.

And so the years-long battle ended with a three-story-high pile of rubble on Super Bowl Sunday.

Sherrie Clark watched the demolition with a cousin she used to accompany to shows at the Mapes. "I hated to see the old lady go down," she said.

But Lance Glodowski and Mark Rhodes carried signs to the implosion that read "Blow It Up Real Good," and "It's About Time."

"It was a great explosion," said Rhodes. "Now we're going to go have some Bloody Marys."