Barbary Coast Hotel and Casino

Casino infobox
casino=Barbary Coast
theme=1890s San Francisco
address=3595 Las Vegas Blvd South
Las Vegas, NV 89109

---

rooms=197
date_opened=March, 1979
date_closed=February 27, 2007
space_gaming=30,000 square feet
attractions= Big Elvis, a 600+ pound Elvis impersonator
shows= Free lounge entertainment
restaurants="Drai's"
"Michael's"
"The Victorian Room"
owner=Boyd Gaming Corporation
casino_type=Land-Based
renovations=2001
names_pre=None
website= [http://www.barbarycoastcasino.com/ barbarycoastcasino.com]
The Barbary Coast Hotel & Casino was a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada owned and operated by Boyd Gaming Corporation. With only 196 rooms, it was one of the smaller properties on the Strip sitting on only convert|4.3|acre|m2 of land.cite news |first= Matt |last= Ward |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= Gaughan are the days ... |url= http://www.lvbusinesspress.com/articles/2007/03/19/news/iq_13032466.txt |work=Las Vegas Business Press |publisher= |date= 2007-02-19 |accessdate=2007-07-07 ] With its old wood and stained glass interior, it was one of the few establishments on the Strip to offer the feeling of the "old Las Vegas". The property was sold to Harrah's Entertainment in 2007 and renamed to Bill's Gamblin' Hall and Saloon.

History

The casino was built by Michael Gaughan and it opened in March 1979 at a cost of $11.5 million. Over time, this property, along with others owned by Gaughan would become Coast Casinos Inc.

Michael Gaughan shared partnership in the Barbary Coast and all other coast property casinos, with Kenny Epstein, Tito Tiberti, Frank Toti and Jerry Herbst.

The Flaming Lips' "Halloween on the Barbary Coast" from "Hit to Death in the Future Head" (1992) was written after the band was kicked out of Caesars Palace due to a lack of personal hygiene. The motley bunch ventured across Las Vegas Boulevard to Barbary Coast where striking hotel employees heckled them, told them crossing a picket line was 'un-American' and declared over a mega phone "Look everybody ... It's Halloween on the Barbary Coast!"Fact|date=July 2007

On February 9, 2004, Boyd Gaming announced that they would purchase Coast Casinos, a Las Vegas locals casino brand, for $820 million. The hotels included in this deal were the Barbary Coast, the Gold Coast, the Suncoast, the Orleans, and the South Coast, which was under construction at the time. The buyout was complete on July 1, 2005 at a cost of $1.2 billion.

On September 6, 2005, Boyd Gaming purchased the 4.3 acres (17,000 m²) of land under the hotel for $16 million. The hotel had been leasing the land prior to this point.

On October 2, 2006, Boyd Gaming announced plans to swap their Barbary Coast hotel for Harrah's Entertainment's 24 acre parcel on and around the site of the former Westward Ho next to Boyd's Stardust. With the Westward Ho parcel, Boyd would have 87 contiguous acres on the Strip to complete their Echelon Place resort, the replacement for their Stardust property [ [http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Oct-03-Tue-2006/business/10004724.html Las Vegas Review-Journal October 3, 2006] ] .

On February 7, 2007, the Nevada Gaming Control Board gave approval to the plan for Boyd Gaming to swap the Barbary Coast with Harrah's 24 acre site next door to Boyd's Stardust property [ [http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2007/Feb-08-Thu-2007/business/12456754.html Las Vegas Review-Journal February 8, 2007] ] .

The Barbary Coast casino was closed at 2AM on February 27, 2007 after the acquisition was finalized. The hotel and casino were rebranded as Bill's Gamblin Hall and Saloon, in honor of Harrah's founder Bill Harrah, and reopened March 1, 2007 under Harrah's ownership [ [http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070301005342&newsLang=en Press Release March 1, 2007] ] .

External links

* [http://www.barbarycoastcasino.com/ Barbary Coast Hotel and Casino website]

References