Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Patrons say farewell to Mermaids and La Bayou in downtown

Glitter Gulch, La Bayou and Mermaids

Granite Gaming

La Bayou on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas.

Mermaids Casino, La Bayou and Glitter Gulch

The interior of La Bayou Casino is shown Saturday, June 25, 2016. Mermaids Casino, La Bayou and Glitter Gulch will close their doors on June 27th to make way for a new project. Launch slideshow »

Mermaids and Other Casinos Close

The Mermaids Casino, as well as La Bayou and Glitter Gulch on the Fremont Street Experience, are set to close on Monday as Derek and Greg Stevens prepare to build a new casino there on Friday, June 24, 2016. Launch slideshow »

Early Saturday evening, customers shuffled in and out of Mermaids and La Bayou in downtown, being greeted at the entrances with girls placing beads around their necks.

It seemed like a typical weekend night on the Fremont Street Experience. But for downtown mainstays Mermaids, La Bayou and Girls of Glitter Gulch, there won’t be many more nights. They will close Monday to make way for a new hotel concept by the Stevens brothers, Derek and Greg, who purchased the properties in April next to the shuttered Las Vegas Club, which they also own.

At La Bayou, patron Lisa Leech, 52, and an employee shared a hug and tears.

“This is it; bye La Bayou,” the employee, who did not want to be identified, said as she bid farewell to the customer she’d served for 15 years.

“It’s going down the tube,” the woman said as she walked away, wiping tears away.

Leech, a Fort Collins, Colo., resident, and her husband, Randy, have been patrons for 15 years. They visit Las Vegas four times annually and spend about half of their time at Mermaids and La Bayou. They were in town last week for their wedding anniversary, but decided to return specifically for the final nights of the properties.

Last year for her birthday, La Bayou officials gave Lisa Leech a cake and card signed by members of the morning staff. When the night shift arrived, that staff did the same, she said.

“Now it’s gone,” she said. “You don’t get that at any other casino, because they’re too big.”

She nearly broke down into tears when she spoke about trying to keep in touch with the staff in the future. They plan “to drive all over Las Vegas to visit them” at their new jobs.

Sisters and Ohio residents Kimberly Kassel, 54, and Kathy Woll, 60, have been patrons at La Bayou and Mermaids for about 10 years. Change from their slot machines at La Bayou clattered as they spoke about the properties closing.

“We’re not happy,” Kassel said. “We’ve just had a lot of good times.”

What she would tell people who never experienced La Bayou, she said, “Just that they missed a hell of a good time. A hell of a good time.”

Local Matthew Tortu, 58, sat at a slot machine at Mermaids, one of his two favorites downtown, he said.

Tortu has been gambling at Mermaids for five years since moving from New Jersey. He placed dollar bills into “Free Spin Frenzy” as he spoke about how it only costs him a nickel to play.

“I can drink and I can have a good time,” he said. “It don’t get better than this,” he said as a waitress handed him a drink. “See, I got a drink already. This young lady is right on top.”

He wasn’t aware Mermaids was about to close and he said that he hopes it reopens as a more modern version. “It can be updated, but I like the theme.”

Derek Stevens, who also has ownership at the D, Golden Gate and Downtown Las Vegas Events Center in downtown, interacted with customers sitting at slot machines in Mermaids.

“Today is a great day in Las Vegas,” he said. “There are so many memories at La Bayou and Mermaids over the years that is great to see everyone come here and check it out one more time.”

Eaters stood at an apparent never-ending line at Nathan’s to grab a hot dog, fries, chocolate-covered bananas or deep-fried Oreo and Twinkies one last time. Many visited the properties solely for the deep-fried delights, including Saturday — the six standing tables kept emptying and immediately again were occupied by new patrons.

“It’s a good thing to see how Las Vegas always reinvents itself," Derek Stevens said.

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