Horizon hotel-casino to be reincarnated
By Kathryn Reed
Say goodbye to the Horizon.
While it isn’t going to be bulldozed, it is going to be gutted after the lease with LV Casino LLC expires March 31.
Taking over operations is Warner Hospitality Group out of Las Vegas. The company is under contract with the owners to remodel the dilapidated Stateline casino. It will be a multi-phase project, with the first phase slated to open in June.
The Park family has forever been the property owners. Family members were having disagreements on how to manage the business that includes cattle in the Carson Valley, the Horizon and MontBleu casinos, Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course and the future Edgewood Lodge so they opted last year to divide holdings among family members.
Called “The Ho” by locals, the Horizon hotel-casino is about to undergo a remodel. Photo/LTN
Jon and David Park now own the Horizon and the cattle company. Neither is returning phone calls.
Horizon Stadium Theaters operators have been told they will be out of business at the end of the month. Reservations for the hotel are not being accepted beyond the night of March 30.
“We are in the dark,” a reservation specialist said of his future and the property’s after this month.
Warner Gaming officials declined to say anything other than a plan is being worked on.
A person close to the changes, but who could not speak on the record, told Lake Tahoe News, “They’re looking to do some Hard Rock-related stuff with the Horizon, but some licensing stuff has to be worked out, including what to do with the corporate owned Hard Rock in Harveys.”
Warner runs the Hard Rock hotel-casino in Las Vegas and is developing one in Sioux City, Iowa, among its other properties.
The Hard Rock inside Harveys is a concessionaire for the casino company. This means Caesars Entertainment, parent company of Harveys, does not have a say if a Hard Rock-themed hotel goes in next door. Nor have Harveys officials been approached about what Horizon plans to become.
The local Hard Rock, which has a restaurant and retail outlet, deferred comment to corporate PR, which deferred to Brookfield Real Estate Management Partners in New York. Multiple calls were not returned.
Nichols Engineering and Environmental Services in Stateline is working on the remodel, but would not comment about specifics.
“Both the county and TRPA will sign off on the permits. TRPA will authorize the changes under their conditional permit, and building department will authorize any construction required of building and fire codes – e.g., electrical, mechanical, plumbing, structural, etc,” Mimi Moss, Douglas County community development director, told Lake Tahoe News.
Jeff Cowen, with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, told Lake Tahoe News, “They are looking to do improvements at the property that are consistent with the South Shore Vision Plan.” He said no application for a permit has been submitted.
The 539-room hotel has been on the decline for years. The gaming floor only has slot machines. The place is often like a ghost town.
The building opened in 1965 as Del Webb’s Sahara-Tahoe. In its heyday Elvis Presley, Phyllis Diller and the Osmond Brothers would play there. It was like having a Las Vegas style hotel-casino in Lake Tahoe.
In 1983, it was renamed Del Webb’s High Sierra. At that time it had a western theme.
Columbia Sussex took over the operations and renamed it the Horizon in 1990. LV Casino, a subsidiary of Columbia Sussex, took over operations in 2009.
Worked there in ’74, when it was the Sahara. When it was THE place to go on the South Shore. Sad to see it now, knowing what it had been. But . . .no movie theater? That was the best thing there, by far.
….was kinda looking forward to it going, but if reinvented properly it could be an asset. Just about ANY investment down there has to be looked at as a positive.
Good riddens to Columbia Sussex they have been instrumental in running the Stateline area into the ground. Any change can only be a plus.
…and our implosion-party tickets will be honored at a later date…
Maybe they should put a showroom or a buffet in the space where the theaters are… that would be such a novel idea. And some marketing people can get huge bonuses for thinking up the idea…
Well good for the town, and if it happens, good for The Hard Rock! A nice big Hard Rock in our town with Hwy. 50 exposure, I believe, will do some real good business!
I walk by the current one now, and while I used to see it busy, it’s sad to see it so empty!
I haven’t set foot in there since it was the Sahara Tahoe.
A Hard Rock Hotel is really what we need around here. Something theme based that’ll bring people in. The Horizon is just a dump.
Funny how all the commenters are against big corporate development except when it comes to the stateline area.
Dumbfounded-That’s beautiful. Wonder how many people appreciate it.
Yeah TahoeRes… it’s called NIMBY.
Ho was never a fun place to hang out;)
I’ve never been treated worse in any employment situation in my life. the total disrespect handed off to the many loyal employees is deplorable. I hope they soon feel what its like to be treated so badly. What/whomever takes over has got to be better than these horrific lazy pigs.
“Funny how all the commenters are against big corporate development except when it comes to the stateline area.”
How does remodeling an existing i sore in a heavily developed area compare to other projects that posters are against? If you are insinuating this compares to the proposed development in Meyers I disagree.
The Park family is taking a huge risk and should be given the benefit of the doubt until proven unworthy.
What fun this joint was in the 60’s and 70’s. As you all remember, rednecks and hillbillies hung out in Harvey’s, Joe College hung out in Harrah’s, and druggie/dopers hung out in the Sahara, etc. Tokes at the 21 tables were 1/2 of a “Quack” as I’m
sure all you ladies remember?
How retarded do you need to be to screw up a Casino!? You steal money 24/7 and Still can’t keep the doors open, and a few poor hippies employed cleaning up after you and your friends!? Del Web must be doing Cirque du Solei in his grave.
HARD ROCK HOTEL,needed,bring it in,
Rockinrol ain’t noise pollution! Hopefully it won’t be lake pollution either…✊
Anything new would be a breath of fresh air in this stagnant town. Especially if them running said show weren’t from here
Losing theaters is a bummer. They’ve really done a nice clean up there over the past few years.
Still not getting all the secrecy? Why not return the newspaper’s phone calls? Its just a hotel…. Or is it? You should see what behind the scene’s in the employees only area’s look like.
I’m going to call the Vegas casinos union today and I don’t even work there
Sunriser, I agree with your irony. However, corporations have been in Stateline for decades, not so much in Meyers. All the best.
The theaters would be a perfect candidate for a Showroom as it used to be one. I worked in it for 34yrs. Was the best one on the hill. Jim
HARD ROCK Hotel & Casino would be a perfect fit for the South Shore! I really can’t think of a better idea.
Now if they only would decide to build a proper outdoor amphitheater to go with it…. one with views of the lake. If they did it right with that brand, then the Lake of the Sky would become the world’s premier concert venue!
Shoot, we locals can dream, can’t we?
Bring the Theater Back to the Y! It is no coincidence that after they moved the theater(s) to Nevada the Y started to slide downhill.