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Palace Station

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Palace Station

Palace Station is a hotel and casino located in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Station Casinos, and is the company's oldest property. It includes an 84,000 sq ft (7,800 m2) casino and 575 rooms. Palace Station originally opened as The Casino on July 1, 1976, attached to the Mini Price motel. It was expanded and renamed a year later as Bingo Palace. The ownership group included Frank Fertitta Jr., who bought out his partners in 1979.

Bingo Palace was expanded further and renamed Palace Station in 1984. The motel was purchased by Fertitta the following year, becoming part of Palace Station, and a 21-story hotel tower opened in 1991. A $192 million renovation took place from November 2016 to March 2019, and included demolition of the original motel structure.

Palace Station originally opened on July 1, 1976, as The Casino, a 5,000 sq ft (460 m2) gambling hall attached to the Mini Price Motor Inn. The Casino was built in an off-Strip location beside Interstate 15, where few observers expected it to succeed. It was soon expanded by 10,000 sq ft (930 m2) and renamed Bingo Palace, with the grand opening celebrated on June 30, 1977. The casino was the first in the Las Vegas Valley to target a clientele of local residents, with offerings like giveaways, cheap buffets and bingo. It thrived, and other locals casinos followed in later years, including Sam's Town (1979) and the Gold Coast (1986).

Carl Thomas, an executive of Argent Corporation, was among the original owners. Frank Fertitta Jr. bought a 10-percent interest in July 1977. He became vice president and director of the Bingo Palace later that year. In 1979, Thomas was under investigation for allegedly aiding mobsters in a skimming operation. Fertitta bought out his partners, including Thomas and two others, later that year.

A $10 million renovation and expansion was underway in 1983, and a contest was held to select a new name, as Fertitta wanted to emphasize that the casino offered more than bingo. Approximately 26,000 contest entries were made over a three-week period. The winning name, Palace Station, was submitted by a keno runner at Bingo Palace. Fertitta liked the name because it retained "Palace" while also reflecting the property's new train station/railroad theme. The name change became official on January 1, 1984. A grand opening ceremony was held on April 6, featuring Governor Richard Bryan and the historic locomotive Inyo. A train-themed neon sign, measuring 126 feet (38 m) wide and high, was constructed for Palace Station.

In 1985, Fertitta purchased the adjoining 465-room motel and rebranded it as part of Palace Station, allowing the casino to now target tourists as well. A $60 million expansion began five years later, and included 22,000 sq ft (2,000 m2) in new casino space, as well as a parking garage. The project also included a 21-story hotel tower; it began construction on July 9, 1990, and was topped off that November. The expanded casino and three floors in the tower opened a month later, with the remainder of rooms expected to be finished in mid-1991.

In 1993, Palace Station filed to become a public corporation known as Station Casinos, which has gone on to open numerous other hotel-casinos throughout the Las Vegas Valley, starting in 1994 with Boulder Station.

In 1998, a 67-year-old woman won the largest slot machine jackpot in history at Palace Station: $27 million.

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