Company proposing casino,'needed' conference center

Local business leaders see good things in the proposed addition of a 107,000-square-foot casino, hotel and conference center to Carson City's east side.

A Las Vegas-based company plans to build one of the largest casinos in Carson City.

A design firm has submitted plans to build a 107,000-square-foot building for Golden Gaming Inc. that includes a casino, 220-room hotel and parking garage.

The casino, called Sierra Gold in the plans, will be at the corner of Highway 50 and Lompa Lane by an entrance to the Highway 395 bypass.

Golden Gaming executives could not be reached for comment, but Mayor Marv Teixeira estimated the project could cost between $50-$60 million.

"It's absolutely first cabin," he said.

Golden Gaming runs casinos in Colorado and Pahrump and taverns throughout the state, including Sparky's in Carson City.

The Las Vegas-based design firm, Steelman Partners, has worked on casinos in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Chicago, Moscow and China.

The plans will be reviewed by the city planners Tuesday.

Builders will also have to get a special permit for the 112-foot building, one of the tallest in the city. The height limit for a building like that is 45 feet.

The space will also hold restaurants, a 750-space parking garage and 13,000 square feet of conference space.

This conference space, said Carson Chamber of Commerce Director Ronni Hannaman, is "probably one of the most needed things in the city."

Now the city can host events it never could before, she said. The casino will also have a full-service hotel for those large conferences.

The casino will be near the future depot of the V & T Railway, an 18-mile route connecting to Virginia City scheduled to done in 2011.

This will put the depot in a great place for the city, she said - between that hotel-casino and Gold Dust West, which also has a full-service hotel.

The plans didn't say when construction would start, but Teixeira said it could be another year.

Hannaman said the casino will benefit the government and people of the city and, according to Northern Nevada Development Authority Director Ron Weisinger, the only ones that will be hurt by it are casinos that "milk" profit as long as they can without upgrading.

He pointed to the South Carson's Casino Fandango as example of a business that's grown with the market. In the last year, the casino opened the biggest theater in the city, expanded its gaming and started to build a 100-room hotel.

"This (the Golden Gaming casino) is wonderful for Carson," he said. "We should say, 'Yes!'"

Development

Recent casino expansions or buildings in Carson City

Casino Fandango:

Galaxy Theater opened in August, part of an ongoing $50 million expansion project that will include a 120-foot pedestrian sky bridge at a cost of about $800,000. Also included in the expansion are a four-story, $11-million Marriott hotel, an Italian restaurant named Ti Amo and an additional 5,000 square feet for gaming.

Bodine's Casino:

Bodine's Casino, under construction at South Carson Street and Old Clear Creek Road, is a $20 million slot casino with restaurant, bar and sports book that is scheduled to open this spring. The casino will be 66,000 square feet and employee 125-150 people.

• Contact reporter Dave Frank at dfrank@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.