Sign of times to come with new Tahoe casino and spa

STATELINE - Signs went up at the Stateline casino corridor this week, marking the end of Caesars Tahoe and beginning of MontBleu Resort Casino & Spa.

The casino, with a French name meaning "blue mountain," will host a two-day grand opening Wednesday and Thursday that features a long lineup of restaurant open houses geared toward a young, hip audience, a revamped hotel lobby, new slot machines and game tables as well as more programs to come including a mini dog park and hotel floor.

Columbia Sussex of Kentucky, which also owns Horizon Casino Resort across Highway 50, took Caesars Tahoe through a major remodeling effort that is estimated to have well surpassed $50 million. Columbia Sussex bought the casino from Las Vegas-based Caesars Entertainment for almost that - $45 million.

Above it all, a new tower sign with 8-foot-high letters spans 450 square feet.

The marquee standing 56 feet high covers 1,000 square feet facing the major thoroughfare.

Joe Yung, Columbia Sussex's director of development, anticipates the casino to have an exciting lineup of acts hit the scene.

"We think it's an improvement," designer Gary Midkiff said.

His Stateline firm drafted the designs of the signs and got them through the permitting process.

He calculated more than 400 square feet of sign space was taken away in the replacements.