Laughlin's Emerald River Resort is a Nevada gem
In an article written by Bill McMillen in May of 2022, he mentions a statement from Herm Walker, a member of the Laughlin Advisory Board concerning an issue that seemed to be bothering many of the folks around Laughlin, Nevada and Bullhead City, Arizona.
These board members are the mucky mucks in charge of a lot of things that concern a lot of things that make municipalities as efficient as they are. That was not meant as sarcasm.
I am not sure what sort of things, but they must be important since they have meetings, take notes, hear from citizens, say ‘humph humph’ a lot, and some give speeches with a lot of platitudes about how things are run in their jurisdiction.
That is enough said on that point.
Walker’s statement referred to a towering, unfinished cement structure that has dominated the Laughlin skyline for years.
He explained that the structure has been called, not so affectionately as “the eyesore,” “the birdcage,” “the skeleton,” and other disparaging nicknames by local residents who have lived in its shadow for more than 30 years.
Now, I have dressed up as a skeleton on more than one Halloween in my life, enjoyed the film "The Bird Cage" starring Robin Williams, and have been called a lot worse when I wake in the morning as more than an eyesore. So, I wondered what McMillen was referring to.
Actually, I knew exactly what it was - I just wanted to add a few words here to make my editor happy.
Editors - geez.
Though Eric is awesome - a few points for me there.
Anyone who has visited the Laughlin or Bullhead City area has seen that huge, multi-storied unfinished structure sitting just southwest of Laughlin on the west side of the Colorado River.
And if they have not, they should not drive either a motor vehicle or a watercraft since the building is bloody huge.
We, referring to my lovely wife, Laureen, and our children, have seen it for years, since both towns are favorites of ours during the boating season.
“Daddy,” one of our daughters asked. “Why is that building not finished?”
“It’s a new style of architecture,” I would respond as we boated along the river looking up at the empty floors, rebar and gray concrete staring out at us.
“It’s the open floor plan design, but just be careful when walking out onto the balcony.”
Laureen would roll her eyes at my comments and boaters would stop in midriver. Her eye rolling is that loud.
According to the Washington Times, America's Newspaper - I had not heard that boast before - the Emerald River Resort was ‘planned during a roaring growth spurt in Laughlin. Emerald River was supposed to be the most expensive casino-resort in Nevada for its time, with four hotels, a golf course and a million square foot shopping mall.
Having a home in the area, my body shook when I read that last sentence. Laureen and our daughters set loose in a million square foot shopping mall - the horror!
According to the paper, the total cost in 1988 when construction began, was going to be in the neighborhood of $800 million dollars, which in today's money would be well over a gazillion greenbacks.
That particular neighborhood would only have the likes of the Musk’s, the Zuckerberg’s, a few friends I have who say they earned their money from Latin America legitimately, and perhaps a Nigerian prince or two.
According to a local resident and business owner, Bruce, “It’s a shame really. The Emerald River Resort would have been spectacular.”
Yes, it would have been. Eight hundred acres along the Colorado River with three independent hotel/conference/event centers could have rivaled anything Las Vegas had.
Sure, Las Vegas has all those things that must stay a secret, but in Laughlin - go ahead and tell your friends that you had a great time at the Emerald River Resort.
“Imagine, a thousand or more feet of river front property for boats to launch, to dock, and people to saunter along,” Bruce said. “It would have been marvelous, not to mention the wonderful golf course they built there.”
“What happened?” I asked. Further research could have been conducted by me, but I was tired.
“It was the late eighties, and the owner tried to finance the whole project through bonds and other avenues of funding.”
An article written by Eli Segall for the Las Vegas Review Journal in 2106, said John Milby announced plans for an 800-million-dollar resort in Laughlin. He was using so-called junk bonds, or high interest loans, to help finance the development. But when the junk-bond market collapsed around 1990, the project was doomed for bankruptcy not long after it was started.
I was not sure what all that meant so I contacted our CPA, but the warden at San Quentin told us Joe was out in the yard exercising at the time and was not available for a call.
“I recall golfers out there playing golf,” Bruce stated. “The hotel was in trouble, but the course was open and even had tunnels for the golf carts going beneath Casino Drive. You can still see them there.”
Really?
I took a cruise along Casino Drive from the Needles Highway and headed to downtown Laughlin. Of course, the huge empty derelict structure loomed ahead of me, but I had a different view of it this time.
In the past, my family and I have gone by, headed to the river - Fun in the Sun - but this time it was different - I was alone.
Gazing across the desert landscape toward that once powerful dream of an oasis, an inviting destination for tourists, a grand experiment along a cold blue line of river had me feeling different.
I was paying attention.
Traveling as I do, there are places where folks and I get together and talk. And there are places where there are no folks to talk with.
That’s fine. Both work for me, but as I pulled over to the dusty dirt side of Casino Drive and took in the image of a carefully laid out golf cart path, I wish there could have been.
Cement paths ran this way and that way over acres of desert. Large electrical boxes were sporadically placed across the golf course, allowing power from here to there.
This was a fully functioning golf course at one time.
Golfers, in their carts at the Emerald River Resort, could look across the lands, stop to spot their ball, maybe hopefully scoot it an inch or two from prying eyes and hit a good stroke.
“Joe,” a golfer may have said. “Dude, one good putt and it’s a birdie.”
“When is that beer cart coming around again,” a woman may have asked, as the temperature along the river started to spike at over a hundred degrees.
Of course, I did not hear those voices. There was an almost preternatural silence.
I walked along that long-deserted golf cart, camera in hand and snapped here and there. It was eerie but at the time fulfilling. The golf course actually ran for a few years before it too, landed in the same financial sewer as did the Emerald River Resort.
I’ve been told real estate is a finicky beast. Laureen and I have invested in real estate through the years,
“We're millionaires!” I would shout.
“Did you see the stock market today?” Laureen would reply.
“Which kid do we sell?” I would ask.
I wandered the abandoned property of this Emerald River Resort; I was not molested even though there were signs not to enter.
I’m a professional with a press pass.
But, as I walked along what would have been the main walkways to the lobby, the bars, the beaches, I could not pretend to hear the voices whistling through the ironwood trees along the boundaries of the wanna-be resort.
So much hope. So many dreams.
What if? What if then? What - - -
This is what traveling on the byways brings to the adventurer. Places like the Emerald River Resort.
Not much to see perhaps. Levels of unfinished concrete floors overlooking the gorgeous clear waters of the Colorado River. But, then again, there is so much more - a person’s ambition and dreams.
And, we all have them.
John can be contacted at beyersbyways@gmial.com
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Laughlin's Emerald River Resort is a Nevada gem
