The Roadhouse Casino has been forced to delay its remodeling and reopening plans as its fight against one of the gaming Goliaths continues. The Roadhouse is the casino on Boulder Highway in Henderson whose gaming license has been challenged by a competitor that doesn’t want the competition.
The renovation and eventual opening of the Roadhouse could be just the shot in the arm that area of Henderson needs to get moving again. The company estimates it will spend about $2.3 million on the renovation, which will involve adding a restaurant and several other interior and exterior features. That spending will include $1 million in construction labor. In addition, it predicts the casino and restaurant will create more than $17 million in new spending annually.
Stations Casinos sued the Roadhouse and the City of Henderson to block the casino’s renovation plans, claiming the company had lost its nonrestricted gaming license. The Roadhouse obtained that license before the laws were changed to require a hotel and certain other items in order to qualify for a nonrestricted license.
When the law was changed the Roadhouse was grandfathered in under the old laws and operated for several years. During much of the last decade it has been dormant, opening for just one day every other year, which is required to maintain its gaming license.
In a report by Channel 8 television in Las Vegas, available on the Roadhouse’s website, the attorney for Stations said, “No one out there would make the type of investment the legislature says is necessary if other people could compete against you and don’t have to do the same outlay.”
But the Roadhouse obtained its nonrestricted gaming license before this particular requirement was the law. Just like some Stations properties that were also granted their nonrestricted licenses before the law changed, the Roadhouse’s license was grandfathered at that time. Therefore, it does not have to comply with these requirements, just like those Stations properties don’t comply with these requirements.
The next episode in this saga has been delayed until after the first of the year as the judge overseeing the case rescheduled a hearing that was supposed to occur earlier this week.
Once again a smaller competitor is forced to battle against Stations, the state’s self-appointed gaming cop, in an arena other than the marketplace.
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