The Moulin Rouge casino in Las Vegas, which was built in 1955, is opening for one day to keep its gaming licence.
The historic casino, the first integrated hotel-casino in the country, closed in 1997 but will reopen in a trailer for eight hours on June 11. The property in downtown Las Vegas has suffered fire damage since it closed, but the owners want to keep the site’s gaming rights active.
A trailer with 16 slot machines will be rolled onto the site of the mostly demolished Moulin Rouge, allowing the owner to preserve the gaming land-use rights of the property. The state requires that a casino operate on the site at least eight hours every two years to maintain those rights.
The building was destroyed in a pair of fires, one in 2003 and the other in 2009. County records show the property was purchased in 2009 by Olympic Coast Investment for $5m.
This is not the first time a downtown property has carted in slot machines to maintain its right to a gaming licence. The Gold Spike was purchased last year by Downtown Project, which eliminated gaming at the property but later brought in slot machines to maintain the former hotel-casino’s gaming rights.
