South Lake Tahoe Casino History

Play and stay at Harrah's Lake Tahoe, the hotel and casino with all the action, adventure, relaxation, and entertainment you need for the perfect Tahoe escape. Harrah's Lake Tahoe is a hotel and casino in Stateline, Nevada.It is branded with the name of its former owner and operator William F. Harrah.It is now owned by Vici Properties and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corporation (merger with Eldorado Resorts pending). The 18-story tower and 525 rooms, plus 65,000 sq ft (6,000 m 2) casino make it one of the largest resorts at South Lake Tahoe.

Harveys Lake Tahoe
Location Stateline, Nevada, U.S.
Address 18 U.S. Route 50
Opening date1944; 76 years ago
ThemePavilion
No. of rooms740
Total gaming space87,500 sq ft (8,130 m2)
Notable restaurants19 Kitchen – Bar
Caba Wabo Cantina
Carvel
Cinnabon
Hard Rock Cafe
Sage Room
Starbucks
Straw Hat Sports Bar & Grille
OwnerVici Properties
Operating license holderCaesars Entertainment Corporation (merger with Eldorado Resorts pending)
ArchitectMartin Stern, Jr. and Associates
Previous namesWagon Wheel Saloon & Gaming Hall
Harveys Wagon Wheel
Renovated in1963: 11-story Mountain Tower
1986: 19-story Lake Tower
Coordinates38°57′37″N119°56′33″W / 38.9603°N 119.9424°WCoordinates: 38°57′37″N119°56′33″W / 38.9603°N 119.9424°W
Websitecaesars.com/harveys-tahoe

Harveys Lake Tahoe is a hotel and casino located in Stateline, Nevada. It has 740 rooms and suites as well as six restaurants and a casino with 87,500 square feet (8,130 m2) of space. It also has a video arcade, wedding chapel, pool, convention center and a full-service health club. It is owned by Vici Properties and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corporation (merger with Eldorado Resorts pending).

History[edit]

Harvey's was originally opened in 1944 and operated by Sacramento meat wholesaler Harvey Gross and his wife Llewellyn. They opened the first high rise tower and an 11-story, 197-room hotel in Nevada just across the state line from Lake Tahoe, California in 1963.[1]

Harvey's Resort Hotel in the late 1960s. Across the street, Harrah's only has a casino and no hotel yet; its hotel was built in the early 1970s.

The hotel suffered an explosion from a 1,000-pound bomb on August 27, 1980, that left a crater three stories deep when it was detonated by the FBI. (The area around the hotel had been cleared and no one was injured.) The bomb was placed by John Birges, a heavily in-debt Fresno landscaper who had lost at least $1 million at casinos in Stateline and was hoping to extort $3 million from the bomb threat. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, where he died from liver cancer in 1996.[2]

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In 1983, Harvey Gross died at the age of 78; however, the company continued to operate under family management. In 1985, Harveys sold Harvey's Inn, northeast of Stateline, which reopened as the Lakeside Inn. The 18-story, $74 million, glass 'Lake Tower' opened in 1986,[3] the same year the trademark 'Wagon Wheel' was replaced on the 11-story tower with the current Harveys brand.

In early 1992, Harveys entered a bidding war with Hilton Hotels Corporation over the right to buy Bally’s Reno, which opened on May 3, 1978, as MGM Grand Reno (now Grand Sierra Resort). Harveys announced an agreement on a $71 million deal, only to see Hilton up the ante to $73 million and assumption of Bally's debt. Several weeks later, after considering even higher bids, a federal bankruptcy court settled the matter by approving Hilton’s final $83 million offer.

After going public on February 15, 1994, Harveys began new projects including a joint venture with Hard Rock America for an $80 million casino in Las Vegas, which it later sold its interest in 1997 and then a casino resort in Central City, Colorado. A riverboat casino-convention center in Council Bluffs, Iowa followed in early 1996.

In the late '90s, Bill Cosby was signed on as the spokesman for Harveys.[4] This include putting the actor on several of the casino chips[5] and recording several specials at the casino.[6]

In 1999, Colony Capital bought a controlling interest in Harveys Casino Resorts. Harveys announced on April 24, 2001, that it would be acquired by Harrah's Entertainment (now Caesars Entertainment) for $625 million.

In October 2017, ownership of the property was transferred to Vici Properties as part of a corporate spin-off, and it was leased back to Caesars Entertainment.[7][8]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^'Harvey's hotel now open to the public,' Lake Tahoe News, April 5, 1963
  2. ^'John Birges, Sr.,' The Associated Press, September 6, 1996
  3. ^'Celebration set for new tower,' Tahoe Daily Tribune, June 26, 1986
  4. ^http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/harveys-casino-resorts-history/
  5. ^http://www.marlowcasinochips.com/nevada/TahoeStateline/Harveys/Harveys.htm
  6. ^http://www.laketahoenews.net/2014/01/now-stateline-casino-ownership/
  7. ^'Vici Properties Inc., completes spin-off from Caesars Entertainment Operating Company' (Press release). Vici Properties. October 6, 2017 – via NewsBank.
  8. ^Form 424B4: Prospectus (Report). Vici Properties. February 2, 2018. pp. F-54 – via EDGAR.
  • Ferchland, William (August 22, 2005). 'Harvey's bombing changed casinos forever'. Tahoe Daily Tribune.
  • '25th anniversary of Harveys bombing'. Reno Gazette-Journal. August 2005.

External links[edit]

  • Official website
  • Media related to Harveys Lake Tahoe Resort and Casino at Wikimedia Commons
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Harveys_Lake_Tahoe&oldid=930882344'
Harrah's Lake Tahoe
Location Stateline, Nevada, U.S.
Address 15 U.S. Route 50
Opening dateJune 20, 1955; 64 years ago
ThemePavilion
No. of rooms525
Total gaming space65,000 sq ft (6,000 m2)
Signature attractionsSouth Shore Room
Notable restaurantsAmerican River Café
Fatburger
Forest Buffet
Friday's Station Steak & Seafood Grill
Starbucks
Sushi Kai
Tahoe Italian Kitchen
Thai Asian
OwnerVici Properties
Operating license holderCaesars Entertainment Corporation (merger with Eldorado Resorts pending)
ArchitectMartin Stern, Jr. and Associates
Previous namesStateline Country Club
Nevada Club
Harrah’s Stateline Club
Coordinates38°57′34″N119°56′30″W / 38.959425°N 119.941628°WCoordinates: 38°57′34″N119°56′30″W / 38.959425°N 119.941628°W
Websitecaesars.com/harrahs-tahoe
South Lake Tahoe Casino History

Harrah's Lake Tahoe is a hotel and casino in Stateline, Nevada. It is branded with the name of its former owner and operator William F. Harrah. It is now owned by Vici Properties and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corporation (merger with Eldorado Resorts pending). The 18-story tower and 525 rooms, plus 65,000 sq ft (6,000 m2) casino make it one of the largest resorts at South Lake Tahoe.

History[edit]

Harrah's was first established in Lake Tahoe when William F. Harrah purchased George's Gateway Club in January 1955 for $500,000 and Harrah’s Lake Club opened on June 20, 1955, which it is now Harveys Lake Tahoe.

In 1956, Harrah’s Lake Club was sold for $5.25 million in cash to Harvey Gross, which at the time was the most expensive casino purchase ever. In 1958 Harrah acquired an interest in the Stateline Country Club and Nevada Club across the street (Harrah's current location) and opened Harrah's Stateline Club.

Also in 1956, a new radio station, KOWL, had its original radio studio inside the Harrah's Stateline Club. They were located on the upper floor. The station's transmitter and broadcast tower were roughly two miles south of the casino in South Lake Tahoe, California.

The South Shore Room opened at Harrah's Tahoe in 1959, at a cost of $3.5 million. This 750-seat showroom, whose opening act was comedian Red Skelton, made entertainment a priority at Harrah's.

Vocalist Ray Vasquez 1960-1964 sang in the South Shore Room for four years, without ever auditioning after being discovered working at the Silver Slipper by Bill Harrah’s wife Scherry Harrah.

In 1963, Barry Keenan, Joseph Amsler and John Irwin abducted Frank Sinatra Jr., the 19-year-old son of singer Frank Sinatra, after his performance at the South Shore Room opening for George Jessel.

Portions of the Bette Midler film Jinxed! were shot on location at the hotel in summer 1981 for the summer 1982 release of the film. Other locations used in the film were Harrah's in Reno and the Harrah's Auto Museum also in Reno.

Harrah had been planning to build a hotel at Lake Tahoe for many years, but had been hindered by costs. However, in 1971, when Harrah's went public, he finally had the finances available to build his dream hotel. In 1972, Harrah broke ground on his $25-million, 18-story, 250-room hotel which opened on November 9, 1973. Each 500 sq ft (46 m2) room was furnished with a fully stocked bar, bay windows, 2 bathrooms with TVs and telephones. It earned the first five-star diamond rating in casino history. The 20 storey pre-cast concrete sculpted building facade was designed and constructed by Thomas J.Geever.

South Lake Tahoe Casino History Facts

The hotel was later expanded with 290 additional rooms in 1976.

The hotel was damaged in 1980 when a bomb planted by terrorist and extortionist John Birges in Harvey's Lake Tahoeexploded, destroying the neighboring casino. Harrah's casino, which was connected to Harvey's via a tunnel, suffered damage from the explosion, mostly from shattered windows. No one was injured in the explosion, and both casinos were empty when the bomb detonated.

In 2000, it completed a $26 million renovation to update the casino, hotel rooms and restaurants on the 18th floor including the Forest Buffet and Friday’s Station.

On December 3, 2005, a shootout occurred in a private booth near the casino floor. One person was killed, and two Douglas County Sheriff's Deputies were injured.

Caesars Entertainment began a major effort to remodel and revitalize Harrah's Lake Tahoe beginning in 2005; they remodeled floors 12 to 15 of the hotel and remade the rooms in mini suites with large couches, dry bars and brand new decor and furniture. The remodel was completed in mid-2006. Following the hotel remodel, Caesars completely remodeled the hotel's lobby and added a food court and luxury diamond outlet signature to Caesars called 'Park Place Jewelers' in 2007. In 2008, Caesars added an upscale, luxury Chinese/Cantonese restaurant called 'Gi Fu Loh' to cater to their Asian customers.

In October 2017, ownership of the property was transferred to Vici Properties as part of a corporate spin-off, and it was leased back to Caesars Entertainment.[1][2]

There is access to Harveys via an underground pathway that features an arcade and live acts at Sammy Hagar's CaboWabo.

South Lake Tahoe Casinos Entertainment

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^'Vici Properties Inc., completes spin-off from Caesars Entertainment Operating Company' (Press release). Vici Properties. October 6, 2017 – via NewsBank.
  2. ^Form 424B4: Prospectus (Report). Vici Properties. February 2, 2018. pp. F-54 – via EDGAR.
  • Mandel, Leon (1981). William Fisk Harrah – The Life And Times Of A Gambling Magnate. Doubleday & Company, Inc. ISBN0-385-15513-1.

List Of Lake Tahoe Casinos

External links[edit]

  • Official website
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