Pulp International brings us the worrisome news today that the Cal-Neva Lodge & Casino--a resort that traces it history back to a 1926 vacation home on the Nevada/California border at Lake Tahoe, and was once owned by Frank Sinatra--is shuttering its gambling operations today.
“[T]he Cal-Neva’s fortunes have been in decline for decades due to the proliferation of nearby Indian casinos,” the Web site reports, “and the general dominance of Las Vegas. When the recent recession hit, the current owners--who had laid off about a hundred employees since 2006--finally decided they could not keep their gaming rooms in operation. Officially, at least, today’s closure is temporary, but industry insiders note that Rat Pack chic is not enough to draw modern gamblers to an older casino like the Cal-Neva Lodge. If so, it’s quite possible that not only will the gaming rooms never reopen, but that the entire Lodge has begun its final decline.”
I remember our parents taking my brother and me up to the Cal-Neva during our one and only vacation to Lake Tahoe, sometime in the early 1970s. It didn’t seem like such a classy joint to me at the time, but either my father or one of the hotel hands told us about the Sinatra years, and how the resort once attracted movie and music stars on the order of Judy Garland and Marilyn Monroe (who apparently spent her last weekend at the Cal-Neva before committing suicide in Los Angeles in 1962). It’s sad to see a landmark at such risk of disappearing.
READ MORE: “Cal-Neva Casino Closed: Rat Pack-era Casino Was Owned by Frank Sinatra,” by Martin Griffin (Associated Press).
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
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Only after posting this piece did I remember that the Cal-Neva plays a prominent role in Max Allan Collins’ 2005 novel, Road to Paradise. Here’s how the author describes that resort:
“Eight thousand feet above sea level, ringed by the peaks of the High Sierras, accessed by one long winding narrow mountain road, the Cal-Neva--aka the Castle in the Sky--perched high over the northern tip of the lake, ideally positioned to take in Tahoe’s deep, clear azure sunshine-dappled waters, against the surrounding forest’s plush dark green. The sprawling lodge itself was a sort of barnwood wigwam castle, with a commanding A-frame stone porch. In addition to a motel-like row of cabins, small wooden bungalows and a few larger chalets on stilts clustered on the slope below the lodge, between granite outcroppings, the pine bluff dropping sharply to Crystal Bay.”
Cheers,
Jeff
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