A war is looming among the good people of Reno.
On one side are those who think the city should be more like Las Vegas–splashed with colored lights, bubbling and spinning like a state-of-the-art slot machine, beaming a nightly UFO laser show with inflatable aliens firing from building to building.
On the other are those who’d like it to stay true to its simpler past, when there was no such thing as a stranger, and the downtown arch that reads “Biggest Little City in the World” was brand new.
“I know what they’re trying to do,” said Linda Beach, co-owner of the Zanzibar. “They’re trying to make Las Vegas out of it. This is not Las Vegas. I don’t like Las Vegas.”
Beach, whose family once ran a 15,000-acre cattle ranch near Wells, 300 miles to the northeast, said, “If I could go back in my life, I would’ve stayed in Wells. I hate to put Reno down, but it’s not like it used to be.”
That’s for certain. With Reno and Sparks, Nev., growing at a rate of 15 percent a year, Washoe County’s population has topped 300,000. And there’s no sign of a slowdown: the county’s main industry, tourism, drew 5 million people in 1996 and it’s already up 10.2 percent this winter over last.
“This county is just exploding,” said Dennis Condon, director of special events for the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority. “The housing starts are unbelievable. Pretty soon, it’ll be like Orange County–nothing but houses from here to Carson City.”
Condon, an advocate for a jazzier Reno, said, “We’re not trying to emulate Las Vegas, but I think there are lessons to be learned. People outside the area still tend to think we’re 10 minutes north of Las Vegas. They call us the `Biggest Little . . . something.’ They’re not sure what.”
Pointing to the ongoing show at the Treasure Island casino in Vegas, Condon said, “Who would’ve thought two phony pirate ships firing at each other every night would draw those kinds of crowds? That could just as well be two aliens firing at each other.”
As part of his new vision for Reno, Condon has suggested the nightly space creature laser show during the summer. The city has taken it under study. Given the go-ahead, consultants could have plans mapped out before summer.
“If amusement parks can reinvent themselves every year to stay on top of things–Batman shows, Waterworld, Jurassic Park, the Twister–perhaps the gaming world should look at the same thing,” Condon said.
“The idea would be to take the popular craze for aliens and extraterrestrials, `Star Wars’ and all, and see if there’s an appetite for an alien invasion downtown. It kind of fits with Nevada . . . you know, the Extraterrestrial Highway, alien sightings day in and day out. We’re the Alien state.”
Even without Condon’s efforts, Reno has enough going on to keep visitors coming in, year-round.
In recent days the city has hosted the Big West basketball tournament and the Women’s International Bowling Congress, expected to bring 85,000 people and $115 million into the city. Shortly, Luciano Pavarotti makes his first appearance of the year in this country, and the rest of Reno’s dance card is filled for the year–Celebrate the River in June, the Hot August Nights celebration of cars, the Great Reno Balloon Race, National Championship Air Races and the Reno Grand Prix, a Formula I race around the Hilton parking lot in October.
To keep up with expected demand, John Asquaga’s Nugget has undergone a $70 million renovation, Circus Circus is in the middle of a $35 million makeover, the Peppermill has built a twin-tower, 465-room addition, complete with a make-believe mountain, and a $92 million casino is under construction eight miles south of town.
“Just what we need, another casino,” said Sharon Machen, a waitress at Kilroy’s Diner, who has lived in Reno all her life. “Like we don’t have any already here that are closed down and boarded up.”
There are more than a few boarded-up places: Harold’s Club, by the downtown depot, is gone. The Mapes Hotel, headquarters for the filming of “The Misfits”–the last movie for Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe–has been closed for a dozen years.
Beach, who talked about the days when land around the Zanzibar was wide open, said growth had gotten out of hand.
“What they’re doing is catering to the tourists at the expense of the locals,” she said.
Irene Martel, a cook at the Chili Cheez Cafe, agreed.
“We’ve got some stupid city fathers, I think,” she said, yearning for smaller towns on the fringe of Washoe County, east of Sparks. “I always said I’d move to Fernley if Reno got too big. But now Fernley’s got big. My next choice is Gerlach.”
Beach and Martel talked about Reno’s National Bowling Stadium, a symbol of the best and worst of the city’s new image. The stadium, a 393,000-square-foot, 80-lane facility topped by a massive silver ball, caters strictly to national and international tournaments–no league or open play for local residents.
The stadium has hosted half a dozen tournaments, from the American Bowling Congress to the Women’s International Bowling Congress, which is expected to bring in 800 bowlers a day through July 25. The facility is also used for proms and private parties.
The stadium, which has a 16-foot video wall, a digital scoring system 8-feet tall, skyboxes, three parking levels, a marble foyer, a theater, pro shop and restaurant, opened in early 1995.
Ron Wrest, director of the stadium, straddles the line between the new wave and longtime residents. He remembers walking through the hills north of the city “with my kid, a dog, and a .22 to take a little target practice. There are houses there now.”
Wrest looked out the window of his office toward the edge of town where new housing is being built. “You can’t stop progress,” he said.
And Martel, standing beside the grill in the Chili Cheez Cafe, had to agree. Things have changed a lot since the diner opened in 1947, she said. “So many people,” Martel said. “You don’t want it to change, but it has to.”
