The Mapes Hotel in Reno, Nevada met its demise on Superbowl Sunday of 2000 when 75 pounds of explosives packed inside the structure's support columns brought it to the ground. The controlled demolition came despite years of effort by a number of groups within the community to preserve the building with lawsuits, redevelopment proposals, and grass roots lobbying efforts. The National Turst for Historic Preservation even took up the cause, challenging the destruction in a lawsuit that eventually reached the Nevada Supreme Court.
While the efficacy and justification of demolishing the Mapes is debatable, one thing that is not is the glorious history of the hotel. It was built in 1947, and signaled the start of the modern era of casino gambling. Despite the notoriety of Bugsy Siegel and the Flamingo in Las Vegas, it was the Mapes that became the first building in the nation to have a hotel, casino and live entertainment under one roof. It also became the hotel of choice for celebrities staying in Northern Nevada. Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe stayed at The Mapes during the filming of 'The Misfits'. Joseph McCarthy, America's famed anti-Communist crusader, admitted to a reporter over cocktails in the Mapes Lounge that he really didn't have a list of Communists in the US despite his frequent and vitriolic insistence to the contrary.
During the 'Rat Pack' era of the 50's and 60's it became along with the Cal-Neva Lodge in Lake Tahoe the place to be seen in Northern Nevada. The 11th floor, window walled Sky Room Lounge hosted performances by a roster of entertainment legends including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, Louis Prima, Keely Smith, Milton Berle and Mae West. Downtown Reno struggled during the 1960's and 70's but the Mapes continued to prosper. The hotel finally closed in 1982, due to financial problems experienced by the Mapes Family brought about by their other Northern Nevada casino holdings.
While the last twenty years brought an amazing boom in the population and economy of Southern Nevada, the Northern part of the state didn't see much of it at all. For that reason, the urgency of destroying the Mapes is even more questionable. In the Las Vegas area, its easy to justify the demolition of older hotels with simple economics--the older properties simply can't compete in the current mega-resort dominated marketplace. Furthermore, the insane valuation of the land on which they sit makes it financially unfeasible to preserve them as pop culture museums.
That's not the case in Reno, where vacant land and/or buildings ripe for redevelopment are abundant downtown and in the other casino areas of the city. The official reason that the Mapes had to come down was that the city needed the land to expand its vision for downtown redevelopment. While this is certainly a much needed effort, to suggest that the existence of the Mapes was a barrier is absurd. In fact, many of the proposals rejected by the city would have gone a long way to enhance the revitalization of downtown Reno and included artists lofts, office space and other mixed used properties. Despite receiving a number of viable concepts for the Mapes Building, the City Redevelopment Authority rejected all of them and the Mapes was destined for demolition.
The role of the City Redevelopment Authority was questioned throughout the process. Overlooking the Truckee River, the hotel was on a prime location between the downtown casino area and the riverfront district. A number of sound financial proposals were presented that would preserve the integrity of the structure including condominiums, office space, and perhaps most viable, upscale senior apartments. Oddly, all of these proposals were turned down by the citys Redevelopment Agency which continued to maintain that demolition was the only viable option despite copious evidence to the contrary.
Following the 2000 demolition, the lot remained vacant for over a year until a temporary ice skating rink was hastily constructed the following winter. The site now houses a permanent ice skating rink which, while not a bad use for the land, isn't the sort of game changing improvement suggested by the City Redevelopment Agency and their adamant insistence that the building be demolished. To the contrary, it appears they had no specific plan or even general idea of what to do with the land but for some reason wanted to see the hotel come down. This has led to all manner of speculation, ranging from financial self interest to a rumor that the structure was 'haunted' and needed to be destroyed to forestall future paranormal activity in Washoe County. Whatever the reason, the city of Reno lost a valuable landmark that played a significant part in the economic growth of the entire state.
While the efficacy and justification of demolishing the Mapes is debatable, one thing that is not is the glorious history of the hotel. It was built in 1947, and signaled the start of the modern era of casino gambling. Despite the notoriety of Bugsy Siegel and the Flamingo in Las Vegas, it was the Mapes that became the first building in the nation to have a hotel, casino and live entertainment under one roof. It also became the hotel of choice for celebrities staying in Northern Nevada. Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe stayed at The Mapes during the filming of 'The Misfits'. Joseph McCarthy, America's famed anti-Communist crusader, admitted to a reporter over cocktails in the Mapes Lounge that he really didn't have a list of Communists in the US despite his frequent and vitriolic insistence to the contrary.
During the 'Rat Pack' era of the 50's and 60's it became along with the Cal-Neva Lodge in Lake Tahoe the place to be seen in Northern Nevada. The 11th floor, window walled Sky Room Lounge hosted performances by a roster of entertainment legends including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, Louis Prima, Keely Smith, Milton Berle and Mae West. Downtown Reno struggled during the 1960's and 70's but the Mapes continued to prosper. The hotel finally closed in 1982, due to financial problems experienced by the Mapes Family brought about by their other Northern Nevada casino holdings.
While the last twenty years brought an amazing boom in the population and economy of Southern Nevada, the Northern part of the state didn't see much of it at all. For that reason, the urgency of destroying the Mapes is even more questionable. In the Las Vegas area, its easy to justify the demolition of older hotels with simple economics--the older properties simply can't compete in the current mega-resort dominated marketplace. Furthermore, the insane valuation of the land on which they sit makes it financially unfeasible to preserve them as pop culture museums.
That's not the case in Reno, where vacant land and/or buildings ripe for redevelopment are abundant downtown and in the other casino areas of the city. The official reason that the Mapes had to come down was that the city needed the land to expand its vision for downtown redevelopment. While this is certainly a much needed effort, to suggest that the existence of the Mapes was a barrier is absurd. In fact, many of the proposals rejected by the city would have gone a long way to enhance the revitalization of downtown Reno and included artists lofts, office space and other mixed used properties. Despite receiving a number of viable concepts for the Mapes Building, the City Redevelopment Authority rejected all of them and the Mapes was destined for demolition.
The role of the City Redevelopment Authority was questioned throughout the process. Overlooking the Truckee River, the hotel was on a prime location between the downtown casino area and the riverfront district. A number of sound financial proposals were presented that would preserve the integrity of the structure including condominiums, office space, and perhaps most viable, upscale senior apartments. Oddly, all of these proposals were turned down by the citys Redevelopment Agency which continued to maintain that demolition was the only viable option despite copious evidence to the contrary.
Following the 2000 demolition, the lot remained vacant for over a year until a temporary ice skating rink was hastily constructed the following winter. The site now houses a permanent ice skating rink which, while not a bad use for the land, isn't the sort of game changing improvement suggested by the City Redevelopment Agency and their adamant insistence that the building be demolished. To the contrary, it appears they had no specific plan or even general idea of what to do with the land but for some reason wanted to see the hotel come down. This has led to all manner of speculation, ranging from financial self interest to a rumor that the structure was 'haunted' and needed to be destroyed to forestall future paranormal activity in Washoe County. Whatever the reason, the city of Reno lost a valuable landmark that played a significant part in the economic growth of the entire state.
About the Author:
Ross Everett is a Las Vegas and hospitality industry historian as well as an expert on sports betting. He has served as a management consultant for many restaurants, casinos and nightclubs. In addition, he's a noted fight sport journalist, and writes extensively on strategies to successfully bet on UFC, MMA and boxing.
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