Group urges phone campaign to stop implosion

RENO, Nev. - A national preservation group on Monday announced a last-ditch effort to try to save the historic Mapes Hotel from its pending implosion six days from now.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation said it has taken out a full-page advertisement in Wednesday's Reno Gazette-Journal. It urges residents to flood the phone lines at City Hall and ask for an 11th-hour reprieve for the downtown landmark that is scheduled to be reduced to a pile of dust and rubble at 8 a.m. Sunday.

"City officials are intelligent people," National Trust President Richard Moe said in a telephone interview from the group's Washington, D.C. headquarters.

"They know that this building can be saved," he said. "If they hear from enough folks in Reno, I think there's a chance they'll respond.

"It's not over 'til it's over."

The ad is written as an open letter from Moe to the people of Reno.

"What's a city's heritage worth? Nothing, according to Reno city officials," the ad begins. "And nothing - at least for now - is what Reno gets in exchange for the loss of the Mapes Hotel. It's a trade-off that is tragic, senseless and unnecessary."

The ad concludes, "Let your city government know how you feel. Call the mayor; tell him the Mapes shouldn't be sacrificed for nothing. Call the city council; tell them you don't want to see your heritage destroyed by elected officials who allow their vision to be clouded by stubbornness or anything else.

"Tell them to save the Mapes. Its loss will leave the Biggest Little City in the World a lot smaller."

The National Trust listed the Mapes as one of America's most endangered historic buildings in 1998. Sunday's implosion, if it goes forward as planned, will mark the first time a building on the annual list has been lost to wrecking crews.

"It would not only hurt us ... it'd be a real black mark for Reno," Moe said. "Nobody wants that to happen."

But time is running out and other efforts to save the Mapes, from lawsuits and petitions to coordinated attempts at hitting a huge slot-machine jackpot, have failed to provide a savior.

"We're going to explore every possibility right up to the end," Moe stressed.

Built in 1947, the Mapes was the first building in the nation constructed specifically to house a hotel, casino and live entertainment under one roof.

During its heyday in the 1950s, entertainers such as Mae West, the Marx Brothers and Sammy Davis Jr. performed in its top-floor, window-walled Sky Room with its spectacular view of the Sierra Nevada.

Located along the Truckee River in downtown Reno, the Mapes has sat boarded up since 1982.

City officials considered various proposals over the years to restore the art-deco building, but all either fell through or were scrapped, primarily because of a lack of financial backing.

The council in September voted to demolish the Mapes and expand the city's riverside district of art galleries, restaurants, retail shops and a 12-screen movie theater.

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