Disclaimer: All photos not sourced are taken by me. All graphics are made by me using a canva.com pro account.
Good morning Hivers!
Hope everyone is doing well and staying safe.
Today I have a special showcase for you.
It's no secret that the economic shut down has taken its toll. There's talk of dozens of looming crisis' just waiting on the horizon, all of which are a direct result of our collective attempt to combat this pandemic.
I've heard talk of renter's crisis, a credit default crisis, an auto-loan and mortgage crisis just to name a few, all being held back by Government stimulus - but for how long?
And even so, will the stimulus be enough? Will the changes to our way of life make the scale of our economies no longer tenable in the ways they once were?
And if that's the case, what of the workers who no longer belong in this new world? What of the debts and obligations they have that will never be repayed or honored as a result?
What of them?
Today I offer a snapshot into a tragedy. A case study of the type of long term, lasting damage we can expect to see more of as our society adapts.
--Presenting--
The Colorado Belle: The End of an Icon
Before I begin I should let you know that the hospitality business has a special place in my heart. I've worked in hotels for the better part of a decade and I've enjoyed it immensely... for the most part. I mean, it's nothing amazing. If you look at it purely from a practical standpoint it's rather bland, almost mechanical work. You have fixed checklists that you must perform by certain times like clockwork. You have to be an abuse sponge and smile because of it.
It's not perfect.
So what makes me enjoy it so much? Well, it's simple really.
It's the people. The guests and the employees.
Every day you have new people with new expectations, with new dramas and dilemmas that need your attention. Each day brings something new, and it is the friction between the rigid structure of the work and the spontaneous nature of the clientele that truly makes it special.
In saying that I feel like this work also attracts a certain type of worker.
Hospitality workers are some of the most patient and instinctively kind and generous people I know. Even though our property is closed because of the shutdown, we all still keep in touch and check up on each other. Having the willingness to help as a kneejerk reaction to things is an incredible trait I think.
Friendships made among hospitality workers often last a long time, as we will see in this article.
So when I talk about the Colorado Belle I do so with a sense of fraternity and compassion for people who I would likely call friend if our circumstances were different.
To start us off and to contextualize things let's take a look at the town itself.
- - - - - - - - - - - Laughlin Nevada- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Located an hour and a half south of Las Vegas nestled against Lake Mojave, which an extension of the Colorado River
Note how the river cuts down through Nevada. You'll notice that the water becomes much lower and more controlled the closer it gets to Bullhead City (and Laughlin). This is due to Davis Dam which supplies power to the region. It's also the reason why Lake Mojave exists in the first place.
Here are some interesting facts according to Wikipedia.
The townsite of Laughlin was established in the 1940s as South Pointe because of the proximity to the southern tip of the state of Nevada. The early town consisted of a motel and bar that catered to gold and silver miners, construction workers building Davis Dam, and fishing enthusiasts. In the 1950s, construction workers left, and the town all but disappeared.
Laughlin is an unincorporated town which has the same boundaries as the Township of Laughlin. The town is the subdivision by which it is governed by the Clark County Commission.
As of the census[15] of 2000, there were 7,076 people, 3,177 households, and 1,995 families residing in the CDP.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $36,885, and the median income for a family was $40,104. Males had a median income of $27,854 versus $20,973 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $21,097. About 7.5% of families and 9.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.7% of those under age 18 and 1.9% of those age 65 or over.
source
Unlike Las Vegas whose story is rooted in old western tales of frontier life, hardship and struggle, Laughlin's story is fairly tame by comparison. No lollygagging about saloons and the mob coming down looking to make a fortune off of a bunch of settlers and their farming money - no sir.
South of Las Vegas they were interested in two things.
Building dams, and shiny metal.
In fact thaty loved pretty sparkly metal so much in the early 20th century they even dug it up out of the nearby Black Mountains if you'll believe it. I'll show you one of the mining towns soon enough. Some of those mines are still able to be used, though the aggrigate renders it unprofitable for the most part.
Anyway, after the dam was built and the mining all but dried up, the city was naught but a fever dream in the mind's eye of this charming fellow.
Meet billionaire gaming mogul Don Laughlin.
One day Mr Laughlin decided he really liked Lake Mojave so he shrugged his shoulders and built a casino there because why not? Life is too short to not build a gigantic structure that looks like this in the middle of absolutely nowhere
I'm kidding. That's not really what happened. For starters it didn't look like that. The first iteration was much smaller and only had 2 tables, according to the Riverside website. There aren't many good photos of the original building, this is the best one I could find.
source
I just feel like I'm getting carried away with the history a tad, so if you want to know the story of him and the Riverside Casino, the first Casino in Laughlin, check it out here. http://www.riversideresort.com/don-laughlin-history-founder-riverside-resort-casino/. It's pretty neat. I actually worked with a guy who worked directly for Don, and he says the dude is a top bloke so take that for a reference.
Building the Riverside was the spark that started everything.
Afterwards followed two waves of booming economic growth. One in the 60s with the original property opening, and a second in the 80s when investors piled in and properties like the Colorado Belle were built. The 80s was the era for building towers I guess.
1966 saw Don Laughlin's Riverside Resort open.
1967 saw the Nevada Club open, now called the Golden Nugget.
1974 - the opening of the Regency and the ending of the non megaproperty trend.
1979 - the opening of the Pioneer and the start of a new trend.
1980 - The ambitious Colorado Belle opened for business.
1981 - the towering Edgewater opened.
1988 - the gigantic Harrah's opened.
1990 - the equally tall imposing Flamingo Hilton opened, now called the: Aquarius.
It's a a city built on casinos. Just take a look at this photo.
source Wikipedia
In that photo alone you can see nine major casinos stretching up into the skyline on the Nevada side of the river. The other side is Bullhead City Arizona in case you were wondering.
At the Riverside you an catch a water taxi for $5 that takes you to any of these locations.
Note how they removed the Belle.
A 2007 executive summary from Clark County released the following information about Laughlin:
In 2006, just over $615 million in gross gaming revenue and nearly $112 million
in room revenue from the 11,000 hotel rooms demonstrated subtle increases over
recent years.
Overall, there were 3,463 employed residents in Laughlin in 2000, versus 2,622 in 1990,for an average annual change of 2.8%
Given the importance of the resorts and casinos in Laughlin, the bulk of Laughlin’s employed residents are in gaming-related industries. 47% are in entertainment and recreation, and 29% are employed in theservices industries.
Just looking at this at face value through the eyes of a layman, that seems like an awfully centralized economy. That's a lot of people all at the mercy of identical market forces. I feel the term 'a rising tide lifts all ships' is appropriate here, but unfortunately this also works in reverse. A tide going out bogs all ships in the mud and makes the fishermen go hungry.
On March 17th Gov. Steve Sisolak ordered Nevada Casinos to Close
On April 2nd 2020, all 400+ staff of the Colorado Belle were given the news.
Their beloved (and I don't use that lightly) place of work would be closing forever.
NO reopening once restrictions lift.
NO employee retention program.
NO furloughing of anyone.
400 people made unemployed in an instant. Just over 10 % of the entire employed demographic if we're going by the figures I quoted earlier.
10% of Laughlin's working residents had their financial security torn away. 10% of the working population suddenly having to look elsewhere. At the other casinos maybe, but unlikely. Places like the Riverside or Harrah's were able to hold onto their staff, so it's unlikely all 400 will absorbed.
Instead they'll look to Vegas, to California - to Phoenix.
Places other than Laughlin.
As a lover of the industry this breaks my heart.
As someone interested in economics this deeply worries me.
Displacement of this scale causes ripple effects throughout all sectors of the economy. You're looking at potential defaults, evictions, repossesions, unpaid taxes and garnishments for those people.
Not to say that they're not being helped and propped up by Unemployment Insurance, however what is to be done once that ends and the Belle is still closed?
And what of the property itself?
I can't stress how much I love the design of this place.
Over 1000 rooms, 6 decks, 3 restaurants and a huge casino floor left to degrade.
To become a relic, or ruin. To be eventually torn down as some people have suggested to me.
Or sold, which appears unlikely - but it is something I hope for.
This beast used to bring in hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue a year and was worth 200 million at its peak. Truly a mega achievement.
The Mojave Daily News did some amazing coverage of it and interviewed a rep from Golden Entertainment who own the Belle.
According to Golden:
“Future plans for the Colorado Belle will be highly dependent on the business volume at our other Laughlin properties and the Laughlin market in general. The significant economic impact from the governor’s ordered closure of our industry and continued uncertainty of when we will be allowed to fully resume operations has caused us to make the difficult decision to extend layoffs indefinitely for approximately 400 team members at the Colorado Belle in Laughlin.”
“We will continue benefits coverage for affected team members through May and will try to place these team members with our other properties that may have open positions. This decision has not been made lightly, but unfortunately we see this as our only recourse to mitigate ongoing expenses and anticipated reduced business levels while facing competitive pressures from neighboring states allowing their casinos to reopen.”
Here's the link to their amazing article about this.
http://www.mohavedailynews.com/business/colorado-belle-to-remain-closed-indefinitely/article_eac18ae8-9969-11ea-8de9-97786b2bf1a4.html
That almost sounds hopeful, but corporations have to sound hopeful.
And what of the staff?
I'm going to leave you with some social media posts and comments from staff that convey more than anything I could ever say.
Before I do however, just one last thought.
This event should serve as a warning shot for the other casinos and hotels in Laughlin. There is a creeping economic death threatening this place. A vice grip squeezing all the air out - and it only has one mouth it can breathe from.
It may be more important than ever for the industry leaders of Laughlin to consider diversifying the economy and investing in other ventures besides gaming, if only to help build a moat and protect their own selves. If an event like the Pandemic can permanently destroy the means to 'ends-meat' for 400 people, then diversification should become the responsible pursuit.
And now to put a human touch on this.
