Gambling may return to former Moulin Rouge on May 29

The legacy of the Moulin Rouge as a historic gaming property is destined to live on for at least another day.

The state Gaming Control Board on Wednesday recommended approval of a one-day, slot-machines-only license to legally preserve gaming on the site where the first racially integrated casino in Las Vegas once stood.

The casino opened on Bonanza Road in May 1955 and closed six months later. It is now piles of rubble awaiting a resolution through a court-appointed receiver. But in order to preserve the gaming license, a request was made for Century Gaming Technologies to be issued a one-day license, a common request of properties where gaming has been temporarily shuttered.

The board unanimously approved a favorable recommendation which now will go to the Nevada Gaming Commission for consideration on May 17. The matter also is on the Las Vegas City Council’s consent agenda of May 16.

Under the preservation proposal, Century would park a trailer with 16 slot machines, allowing play at the site from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., on May 29.

Board member Shawn Reid noted that the temporary license was the eighth one approved for the Moulin Rouge by regulators since June 2004.

The action was one of several licensings recommended for approval by the board Wednesday.

A long-time banker to the gaming industry has been recommended for approval as an independent board director for a Mesquite company.

The board recommended the licensing of retired Las Vegas banking executive George Smith as a director of Rancho Mesquite Casino Inc., operators of the Eureka property there.

Smith, who retired as Las Vegas market president for Bank of America in 2016, is credited with writing the first loans from that bank to the casino industry.

Board members zipped through other licenses and suitability hearings for key employees and executives for Ainsworth Game Technology Ltd., Icahn Enterprises and its American Entertainment Properties subsidiaries, downtown Las Vegas’ California, Main Street Station and Golden Nugget properties, Konami Australia Ltd., MGM Resorts International, and Beatty’s Stagecoach Hotel and Casino.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.