Historic US hotel and casino bites the dust
A historic US hotel and casino has been destroyed despite a public campaign to save it.
The Mapes hotel in Reno, Nevada, was thought to be the first building in the USA to house a casino, hotel and live entertainment under one roof. In its heyday in the 1950s and 60s, entertainers who appeared there included Mae West, the Marx Brothers and Sammy Davis Jr.
The 12-storey building, built in 1947, passed through the hands of various banks and developers but was boarded up in the early 1980s. In 1998, the National Trust for Historic Preservation listed the Mapes as one of North America's endangered historic buildings.
The trust lost a series of legal challenges against Reno City Council, the hotel's latest owner, and protests followed. A trust poll of Reno residents found 57% in favour of saving the building.
In a last-ditch attempt, preservationists poured $400 (£250) into gambling machines just weeks before the planned destruction of the hotel.
"The jackpot was $37m (£23.1m) and they planned to buy the Mapes if they won," said trust spokesman Gary Kozel, who claimed developers were interested in the property. The campaigners won back their money, but not the jackpot, and the implosion went ahead on 30 January.
Reno council is believed to want the city centre land for commercial development.
by Gillian Drummond
