Wrestlers to demolish Debbie Reynolds hotel, build new resort

The World Wrestling Federation plans to demolish the former Debbie Reynolds hotel-casino and build a 1,000-room wrestling-themed resort in its place.

"The current plan is to demolish the existing facilities," said August Liguori, chief financial officer of Titan Sports Inc., the Stamford, Conn. company that owns the WWF. "Our facilities will be a brand-new complex of 1,000 rooms."

Demolition will begin late in the first quarter or early in the second quarter, said Liguori. The new resort will be open about a year later, he said.

The new WWF resort will include a 35,000-square-foot casino, and 50,000 square feet of bars and restaurants. However, the site is simply too small to build any type of live wrestling venue, said Liguori.

Still, the resort will have wrestling attractions that Liguori declined to discuss in detail.

For live competitions, the WWF will continue using area venues like the Thomas and Mack center, he said.

A joint venture led by the WWF bought the Debbie Reynolds resort out of bankruptcy last year. The other partner, 905 Parkview Group LLC, of Cleveland, is owned mostly by restaurateurs and is expected to handle bar and restaurant concessions at the new resort.

About 1,100 people own time-share units in the Debbie Reynolds resort. Liguori said the time-share commitments will be honored by the new resort. While time-share owners will still be required to make their co-op payments during the year the new resort is under construction, Liguori said they will be compensated.

Time-share owners will either get extra time in the WWF hotel-casino, or the WWF will make other accommodations for them in town during the resort's construction.

The WWF resort is subject to Clark County Planning Department and state gaming regulatory approvals. Liguori said the WWF will file a gaming application within the next month. The building designs are still being finalized, he said, but no problems are anticipated.

The resort is located in the Strip resort corridor and therefore does not fall under the restrictions of a new law limiting neighborhood casinos.

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