Friday, April 19, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
Old Westerns show the cavalry riding to the rescue. The folks at the Moulin Rouge are looking to the Indians for help.
Leaders of the Mashantucket Pequot Indians of Connecticut were in town this week, looking to invest in the decaying structure on West Bonanza Road that opened in the mid-1950s as the city's first integrated casino.
If the Pequot tribe can do just a fraction of what it did for its highly profitable Foxwoods casino in Ledyard, Conn., it will go a long way toward returning the Rouge to its heyday when former heavyweight champion Joe Louis would greet guests of all colors.
A cocktail party was held Thursday for the tribe's dignitaries. Their representatives expressed an interest in venturing into the Las Vegas market, specifically at the property now called Club Rouge.
Last September, the Pequots, who earned more than $860 million in gaming revenues from Foxwoods last year, earned from Connecticut Gov. John Rowland the endorsement to build a casino in Bridgeport. Mirage Resorts Inc. also had sought that endorsement.
The Moulin Rouge, listed on state and national registers of historic places, is seeking $6.4 million from the tribe, many of whose members are part black, to refurbish the facility.
Moulin Rouge officials have been seeking assistance from the city of Las Vegas for several years, but no deal was ever worked out.
Any deal between the Rouge and the Pequots would require a background investigation and licensing of the tribe by Nevada gaming regulators.
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