Moulin Rouge to reopen temporarily in Las Vegas

The historic Moulin Rouge casino is reopening — kind of, for eight hours anyway, and in a trailer. One day next month, 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. So that’s what will happen from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 11 at the site, 840 Bonanza Road.

The Moulin Rouge, built in 1955, was the first integrated hotel-casino in the United States. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992, five years before it closed in 1997.

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 $5 million. It was built in 1955 for US$3.5 million.

It’s not the first time a downtown property has carted in slot machines to maintain its right to a gaming license.

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.