Job fair slated for Gold Strike workers

As fire officials began letting hotel guests retrieve their belongings from smoke-damaged rooms at the Gold Strike hotel-casino Tuesday afternoon, Gold Strike officials announced a job fair this Friday to help the resort's 400 displaced employees find work.

"We have scheduled a job fair at the RailRoad Pass (hotel-casino in Henderson) for this Friday," said David Belding, a partner in the company that owns the Gold Strike and senior vice president and general counsel with Circus Circus Enterprises Inc. "And that's going to be a Circus Circus job fair, and we are going to try to match the employees with job openings that we can provide at the various Circus Circus properties."

The Gold Strike's casino burned to the ground early Tuesday. Its 380 hotel rooms were spared fire and water damage, but suffered varying degrees of smoke damage, Belding said. Guests were put up Tuesday on the Las Vegas Strip at the Monte Carlo hotel-casino.

Though smoke damage was concentrated in the hotel's older rooms, the newer 200-room tower was also damaged, Belding said.

"I'm sure there is some smoke damage that will have to be addressed, and the extent of that we do not know," he said.

Total damage to the Gold Strike, including the lost casino and the damaged hotel, is estimated at $20 million to $30 million.

The Gold Strike was insured and will be rebuilt, Belding said, but it may take a while.

"It could take the better part of a year by the time you get all the plans done and the necessary approvals and construction," Belding said.

In the meantime, the hotel will remain closed, he said.

"It will not reopen until everything reopens," Belding said.

The Gold Strike is owned by Lake View Co., a private Boulder City company owned by Belding; William and Melissa Richardson; and Michael, David and William Ensign. Belding, William Richardson and Michael Ensign have all been senior executives at Circus Circus since 1995, when they sold several other casino properties to Circus Circus. Belding, Richardson and Ensign retained the Gold Strike in private ownership.

"We kept that privately ... so we would have an opportunity to allow our children to be involved in the hotel-casino business," Belding said.

There will most likely be some changes to the rebuilt Gold Strike, but it is simply too early to tell what those will be, Belding said. Lake View's first priority, Belding said, has been to ensure the safety of the Gold Strike's guests and employees.

"We had no injuries," he said.

The second priority, Belding continued, is to get the resort's 400 employees new jobs. Hence the job fair which, thanks to Lake View's pull with Circus Circus, should help the employees get immediately back on their feet.

"We have every reason to believe that we will be able to place all those that are looking for jobs during this period," Belding said.

But when the Gold Strike re-opens, it will want those people back, he said.

"We want them very much," Belding said. "What has caused that property to be a success are the employees that are there."

Belding said the company will also take steps to address the concerns of Gold Strike customers who had to abandon their chips and cash while running for their lives.

"We would do whatever's fair with the people," Belding said. "I have not heard any of those claims so far."

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