History of the Grand Sierra Resort hotel in Reno, Nevada from the days of the MGM Grand to today!
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- Опубліковано 10 лют 2025
- The MGM Grand, now the Grand Sierra Resort hotel casino was almost built way across town from where it ended up! The GSR is a premier destination in Reno - lets take a look at the origins of this iconic structure and find out about the several owners, featuring historic photos of the construction.
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Thanks to the Nevada Historical Society and Neal Cobb for research assistance.
Music: all music composed and performed by Steve Ellison. Drums by Scott Taylor.
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This is the place to learn interesting things about Reno, the state of Nevada and the American west! I've lived in Reno for 37 years (as an adult!). I've had a lifelong interest in history, and spend much time exploring and researching this wonderful area. I started this channel to share some of what I've learned. I produced a full-length documentary film on the history of Reno's Harolds Club casino in 2015.
Perhaps you're thinking of moving to Reno and are looking for background on the area, or you're already a resident and this content might help give you a sense of place. I shall endeavor to cater to both groups!
I'm also a craft beer enthusiast, and thought I'd talk about some of that scene here as well. I started homebrewing in 1992, and earned the Certified Cicerone designation in 2015 - this is a sommelier-like program for beer people.
Please subscribe, share and come along with me on this journey! Thanks and cheers!
Steve
MGM opened on May 3rd 1978 and I started working there two weeks before. It was one of my first jobs and I stayed there for 42 years..😳 I seen many many hello hollywoods because we used to get the show for free. MGM was a great company to work for as was Bally's. Hilton not quite so much, GSR was okay but they don't want to pay their employees what they should... I do miss the place but I wouldn't want to go back work in there. They broke my heart when they tore down the staircase ☹️ I love that building it was like my home away from home. Thank you so much for doing that video, I have a Facebook friend that used to work on the stage of Hello Hollywood .. Thanks again for the video!
That staircase was the best!!! Thanks!
In the beginning all amenties where open 24/7. That was the best. Got no love for the bean counters today. Kids today will never know. But it was beyond amazing
Hey Steve, Richard here....My parentsmoved to Reno in 76. My father was an electrician and the MGM was the first job he worked on. When I moved out here in 88, he would point to the lights at the top and comment that he installed those. He also told me something interesting you could have added. The property was a gravel pit, as you mentioned? I remember him telling me that...Where the Northetown shopping center is, just north of the Grand Sierra property, there was a mountain there that was taken down and trucked to the property to fill in the gravel pit hole. The lake on the south side is a remnant of the pit.
Yep
Awesome video! Thanks so much for posting!
Glad you enjoyed!
Hey Steve, My daughter moved out to Reno from Philadelphia, three years ago, and is employed at the GSR in hospitality. She absolutely loves it there. The people are wonderful and a great organization to work for. My wife and I have visited Reno about six times, and we absolutely love Reno and the GSR!
Thank you for the content, Reno is our favorite vacation town and your videos make traveling there even more enjoyable
Glad you like them!
I wrote Keno tickets on its Grand Opening. All present were in evening gowns, tuxedos, expensive jewelry. Saw many celebrities--most congregated at the craps tables with frequent yelling and screaming! You forgot to mention the jai lai courts (that only stayed open a couple yrs). Also forgot to mention the full size 727 jet for HHH. The dancers would walk out on the wings doing their high kick routine. Had great employee benefits including free meals in downstairs employee cafeteria.
I’m a Reno native. We lived about a mile from the MGM while it was being built. Spent many summer days sneaking into the swimming pool and panhandling money from the tourists to play in the arcade. I can’t count how many time we got chased out by security. It was great! FYI today we call it the “gunshot residue “ GSR. Get it? lol.
Nice - a true NV entrepreneur! Cheers!
I worked there in 1980 as a cocktail waitress. My uniform was a low cut micro mini dress in red velvet. High heels were mandatory. The hardest job I ever had, but the money was great. Back then it was illegal to take pictures inside. Lots of people having affairs and mobsters went there.
Those were the days!
I cannot count the number of times I've stayed there (I own a couple of businesses in Reno). Many thanks. I dug it.
Ah, the MGM. I remember being there in the early 80's as a boy, seeing Gary Coleman down in the mall area, and being too shy to say hello and tell him how much I loved his show! Later, as a teenager, a friends dad had built a bowling ball speedometer and was there pitching it to the bowling alley. Me, her, and her brother gave the security guards a workout, exploring as much of the hotel as we could. In my early 20's, The Garage opened up. I saw AJ Croce, A million cheesy cover bands, and also a few really huge bands there, for free. Then later they did the outdoor shows where I saw BB King twice, 3rd Eye Blind, and more. Then in 2012 I saw Weird Al. In 2006 or 7, had a very memorable night there with my late wife, and I always cherish that memory where we giggled over some guy "dancing" to the country band that was playing. Thanks for bringing up all these memories, Steve. I do enjoy local history, but I'm no historian such as you are. Nicely done.
I remember seeing the Ventures in a quiet lounge there (pre-Garage) many years ago - it was probably half full, but I'm going, "This is Don Wilson! Mel Taylor! Bob Bogle and Jerry McGee!" I went backstage after I waited afterwards and they all signed an album, which I still have on my wall. Great memories! You might have seen one of my cover bands there LOL! Cheers!
@@SteveTRYK thanks for the reply! I don't think I saw your band unless you were in Steel Breeze lol
Thanks for the video, love Reno and have stayed at the Grand Sierra Resort many times over the years to watch concerts indoors and outdoors. Its a great place. Also when I was a teen I got to watch the Professional Women's Bowlers there because my next door neighbor ran the tournaments and brought me along from California. Great memories!!!
Very cool!
GSR is my favorite place to stay in Reno. Started going there when it was Reno Hilton. The place to stay while attending the air races in September. I proposed to my future wife and have been with the same girl since. Thanks for posting, your videos about Reno are always fascinating.
I did one of my first business trips when I started by career in 1982. Thanks for catching me up 40 42 years.
I've been There with my Parents , in like December of 1984 , they owned a CHEVRON gas station and Reno is where they held the "Chevron Dealers convention' in Reno , that year ! It was fun !
Cool - thanks for watching!
My favorite place to be assigned to when I worked for a local security subcontractor.
I first started going to the Reno Hilton in 1995, so I never saw the long running show. However I understand a jet was wheeled onstage at some point during the performance (perhaps at the end?). As a musician I've had the good fortune to play there a few times and I can confirm the jet is still backstage! Perhaps they'll let you get a picture of it for your next video (if so, bring a bright light or three, as it's dark back there)!
The Meruelos got what I think is the best deal ever in Reno: 44 acres at the junction of 80 and 395 (now 580) for $42.7 million! I'm sure they've put much more than that into it since then, but also have already made much more than they invested. Except for gambling odds, it's much better than the Hilton, which was tame in comparison.
Thanks again for the videos! They're always enjoyable!
Thank you for sharing this. My dad was a construction worker on both the original build and the expansion. I love going to the movie theater there. They used to focus on the more arthouse films. It's where I saw Pulp Fiction.
as a kid back in 1979 and 80 we used to go watch Jai alai there.
I came to Reno in 1983 to attend Nevada Gaming School and 1st discovered the MGM. I have always been fascinated with the property and its rich history ever since. I lived in Reno off and on in the 80s and early 90s and finally landed back in the Portland area. My family and I started bringing our Travel Trailer down ever year and have stayed at the RV Park every year for the last 25+ years. The Hotel was The Reno Hilton and the RV park was managed by KOA. We just returned from a 12 day stay a week ago during The Rib Cookoff. So many great family memories at this property, scavenger hunts in the Hotel, buffets, Circus shows etc, my daughter even learned to ride her bike in The GSR RV Park. Not to mention watching all the transformation as the property changed ownership. Miss the old days at this property, looking forward to the future, fingers crossed they keep the RV Park part of there huge expansion plans. Really enjoyed your video, Keep up The Good Works!!!
Great comment! Thanks and hope you make more great memories here!
I found your channel 2 months ago and love it! I work at the gsr and love to hear it's history. Keep up the amazing videos. A few topics that I thought would be awesome to hear about are the coney Island bar. Slide mountain. The marina. History of the nugget. The Italian restaurant on 4th Street that used to be the line between Reno and sparks.
Great suggestions! I did the marina in my dog walks episode. Thanks!!
My family moved to Reno area in late 80's.. It was Ballys when I was a kid. Miss old Reno for sure
It was Bally's when I relocated here.
Steve - I enjoy these videos so much - am moving out to Reno this summer! From Florida to Reno!
I'm waiting for you to do the history on Atlantis???!? I would really like to see how it was transformed from a small hotel to a huge resort.
Keep doing these videos - interesting stuff on this hidden gem of a city!
Excellent suggestion!
I started at UNR spring of 76 and later toured the construction site as an engineering student. The beginning of the end for the better little town of Reno.
This and others brought big changes for sure.
Absolutely agree about that monstrosity being the beginning of the end of a fantastic place to live.
I graduated from Borah High School in Boise, Idaho in 1989. I was in the marching band two of my three years in high school (Boise had and still has Junior High and High school, so no middle school) we came down to Reno for a marching band competition. We stayed at a small hotel just across the freeway from the MGM. We were allowed to walk over to the MGM and wander in the basement where they had a MGM live lion!
Now, in 2024, I find myself mostly retired to Reno and am an active amateur radio operator. Our local ham club actually has a 2 meter repeater on top of the roof (well, mechanical floor) of the GSR. It has great coverage through the greater Washoe valley (not quite to Carson, but out to Fallon). Our other linked repeaters have greater coverage, but that is a different story.
God love ya - my grandfather Howard was an dedicated amateur radio operator for most of his life - W6FAS in southern California. Thanks for watching!!
@jamiesuejeffery - KI7NIK here! I’m glad SNARS got the GSR repeater up again!
Great video! I feel like there was a mistake made in the plans for the GSR. Everything is just huge in scale. I quite like it but I've heard others say "it feels like an airport ". Worth visiting imo anyway.
Good, interesting episode. Went there many times in its different iterations.
Episode suggestion ; the DB Cooper connection to Reno. I was out there at the airport that night and I have my theories.
Great suggestion! Cheers!
WOOHOO
Great NV Content!!
Thank You for your work!!!
Thank you too!
Very interesting. I remember it being Bally’s when I first moved there. I think I only went there once to go bowling sometime in the early 90’s.
I love all your videos and I’m glad that you are bringing the history of old Reno to the masses. But one request, can you do a video on the old sundowner thanks again
Interesting - thanks!
Thank you, it was really interesting
Glad you enjoyed it!
Yet another great video!! Thank you!!
Not sure how long it was there, but MGM in Reno kept a living lion downstairs and let peope take their picture next to it. MGM had their famous logo (with the lion) up on the wall behind it. Forgot the name, but it also had lions mane. It was like a big old lazy cat.
That was Metro! Meow!!!
My mother worked there from the beginning on the Hello Hollywood Hello show. I remember watching it from the sidelines
It is still the world's largest mechanical stage of ut's kind in the world. Just shy of an acre.
Always have a great stay at GSR, play and play and play.
Stayed There once! My Room was huge!
I remember the last of its HILTON days, and that terrifying rope swing drop ride.
I always thought it pretty cool that the pond outside the gsr is used as the cooling system for the building.
Sounding great Steve with your little fluffy mic! And the blooper at the end had us ROTFL. Looking forward to Hello Hollywood Hello, I had a friend that was a stage hand. And I was baptized by Mike Boyce (yes the pastor before he was the taxidermist) with Reno Christian Fellowship with a lot of the dancers. They danced top less and worked weekends, so couldn't go to church. RCF started a Bible study midweek for them. :)
I added the deadcat (that's what they're really called) over the mic to combat wind! It works! Cool stories - cheers!
@@SteveTRYK I say "Hello Hollywood Hello," for my 16th birthday: they had a real jet on stage! They had full dinner service, before the show, first & only time, I experienced this!
Mike Boyce was a very charismatic person. He was a great taxidermist & his dad Fred was a fantastic artist.
I worked on the 1st tower ground up add 1978-1980
I hauled gravel from the gravel pit that the mgm was built on. That was a large hole in the ground, that was filled in with material off 395 north of Reno. It was quite a job!
Cool!
Steve, you should do a vid. on the history of the Rancho San Rafael park and former working ranch
Growing up through the 80s we would stay at MGM grand every year. The place was a totally self contained entertainment facility with a mall, arcade, bowling alley, movie theatre, huge swimming pool massive casino and alot of food. Funnest times of my youth. I would meet other young people from all over the place. Havnt been there in years now. We would only leave the hotel to go to Virginia City or Circus Circus.
Your home away from home! It's all still there!
My mother worked there as a waitress at the steakhouse when it opened, I remember exploring all over the MGM as a kid and having a blast. Apparently one of the reasons for the chosen location was to keep guests gambling there instead of wandering downtown and gambling at other casinos.
It is definitely all by itself, so that would make sense! Cheers!
???? No mention of Kirk Kerokorian???
Or that it was the biggest casino hotel in the world for a number of years.
Hmmm?
Next video my man!
We would love to see the free night coupon mailers in our mailboxes again! For the locals aaaand out-of-towners, too. GSR PLEASE FIND A WAY TO REINTRODUCE THE FREE NIGHT COUPONS! THANK YOU 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
I went with my Mom to see Dean Martin who opened the MGM. I was 19 then and my mom tipped the door guy and we got right up front. Dean took a drink from my mom’s drink. She was like a little kid.
Great memories!!
Is this the casino where Elvis played at ? I've always wanted to visit there . Thank you for your great videos Sir .
The King played Reno only once and it was at the Centennial Coliseum (now the convention center). Cheers!
2005 Hilton sold the building for 151,000,000 to GSR, was another great deal
My new bride gave me a ski trip to the MGM Grand in 1984, and we made reservations. I pulled up to check-in in my lowered custom Datsun pickup, and was immediately told that I could not park there. In the heavy snow storm, we had to show our reservation paperwork to leave the truck there for check in. The valets didn't want to touch it for the manual transmission 😆. So two kids in their early 20's didn't feel that welcome, then we tried to check in.... "Um, we're sorry, but those special rate rooms are all booked, and we don't have a room for you... wait.... okay, we will give a you a free upgrade." When I explained how we were treated outside, he went back to the computer and apologized again and handed us our key for the room. "I hope we can make you happy here Sir."
We opened the door on whatever high floor it was and walked into the Honeymoon Suite.😍
After that, I thought the MGM was the best place to stay ever! We've been back several times, but never got a room like that first one.
Thanks for all of the history of Reno, our aunt lives there and we visit often.
What a great comment and story! Thanx!!
@@SteveTRYK What are the most rewarding comps in Reno. How are the properties at comping vs Vegas?
If they had built on the originaly planned site, the guests would’ve had a nice view of the cemetery.
You're dead on! ;-)
@@SteveTRYK I see what you did there.
PEPPERMILL FOR LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
RIP Bill Paganetti - A very good man!
Hi there. My mother, toy designer and soft sculpture artist, Charleen Kinser, created a one of a kind life-sized rocking lion, named Leo, for the grand opening of MGM Reno in 1978. We wonder if anyone took this amazing creature home when the hotel closed. I can share a photo of it if anyone is interested. We are working to get an exhibition of her work up and running and this would be wonderful to include if we can find out who has it and they would lend it for the exhibition.
Cool - I haven't seen that.
Now the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino is going to have a 10,000 seat Sports and Entertainment Arena for the University of Nevada Wolf Pack Men's 🏀 team and maybe a AFL 🏈 team in the future
I thought about including that - but at this point its just an announcement, ground hasn't been broken and plans change, so I left it out. Thanks and cheers!
I remember being told once that a U.S. President stayed over night once at the GSR when it was the MGM Grand, but I never saw any reference to it......has a President ever stayed the night in a Reno property!?
I've not heard of that. Maybe it was Reagan when he came to town campaigning. That would be the time frame.
After he left office Jimmy Carter stayed at Circus Circus for several days!
$83,000,000 in 1990 to buy something that cost $150,000,000 in 1978 to build was a score
What happened to the huge airplane in there
It's still there - I tried hard to get in there to photograph it but the GSR wasn't having it. I firmly believe that if I had the subscriber base, enough that my contact person there knew who I was, it wouldn't have been a problem. Please subscribe!
What sucks is that reno is starting to turn to vegas.
Yup and more crime, people moving here
I remember when it opened 1978 America was a better world, evil was less common, people still had GOD in their heart more than now. Also social people were more connected
they talked about the strip connection with Peppermill and the GSR, MGM, yet Reno took a dive with Indian casinos
JP Morgan sold in 2011 for $ 42,000,000. wow even better
Built by the Herrick Corp. in Hayward,Calif. My Dad had a hand in the fabrication of both the Vegas and the Reno hotels back in the early’70’s, both were massive steel projects. Sad to see them soon to be torn down and replaced someday. 🫤
Good that this one is still here!
I went with my Mom to see Dean Martin who opened the MGM. I was 19 then and my mom tipped the door guy and we got right up front. Dean took a drink from my mom’s drink. She was like a little kid.