Mecca to head GV resort

Friday, March 23, 2001 | 11:09 a.m.

Mike Mecca is returning to Las Vegas as head of Station Casinos Inc.'s newest casino, now under construction in Green Valley.

Mecca comes to Station from the Greektown Casino in Detroit, where he served as chief operating officer. Salvatore Semola, formerly director of table games at Station Casino Kansas City, was named as Mecca's successor at Greektown.

Mecca is a veteran of the Las Vegas market, serving most recently as general manager of Mandalay Bay during its construction phase and chief operating officer of Mandalay Resort Group's international marketing operations. Mecca left two months before Mandalay Bay opened in March 1999 for reasons that were never disclosed.

Mecca also spent 13 years at Caesars World Inc., serving as general manager of Caesars Palace at one point.

Station is building the $260 million Green Valley Ranch hotel-casino as a joint venture with American Nevada Corp., a company controlled by the Greenspun family, owner of the Las Vegas Sun. The upscale property, located at the I-215 Beltway and Green Valley Parkway, is slated to open by year's end.

Scott Garawitz had previously been designated general manager of the Green Valley property. A Station official said this morning that Garawitz will instead serve as general manager of a planned tribal casino near Sacramento. The $100 million, Station-managed property is expected to open next year, pending regulatory approvals.