Crews demolish historic Vegas casino after blaze

LAS VEGAS — Demolition crews began bulldozing the charred structure of a historic hotel-casino even as parts of the building were still smoldering hours after a blaze broke out Wednesday afternoon.

No injuries were immediately reported in the fire at a vacant two-story wing of the Moulin Rouge, Las Vegas’s first integrated gambling hall. Authorities had said they planned to bulldoze the entire structure as soon as crews put out the flames.

The fire cast a large plume of smoke over the property about a mile northwest of downtown. Las Vegas city spokesman Jace Radke said more than 100 firefighters stopped it from spreading to other buildings.

Las Vegas city spokeswoman Diana Paul said the cause of the fire was under investigation.

Work had begun last week to renovate the property, Paul said, and the building’s distinctive script marquee was moved for safekeeping just days ago.

The property was purchased in 2004 for $12.1 million by the Moulin Rouge Development Corp., a group of investors who announced plans to build a $200 million hotel-casino on the property. A phone number for the group was disconnected.

The Moulin Rouge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was the first casino in Las Vegas to welcome blacks and whites when it opened in 1955. It hosted headliners such as Sammy Davis Jr., Nat “King” Cole and Frank Sinatra, but was open less than a year.

The hotel rooms were converted to apartments, and the property fell into disrepair over the next four decades. The dilapidated main casino was destroyed in a 2003 arson blaze that injured three people and displaced more than 100 residents.