When the $2 million 200-room Showboat opened in 1954 out on Boulder Highway, it was even then an anomaly: a Mississippi riverboat, complete with a paddlewheel and smokestacks, way out in a no-man’s land a mile southeast of downtown and even farther from the incipient Strip. The day before the grand opening, an enormous storm dumped torrential rains, which almost washed it away. But the ‘Boat floated along in the treacherous Las Vegas current for decades, steering around snags, pausing in port for upgrades, and finally foundering in the end.
In 1959, 24 bowling lanes were added to the casino, which sponsored tournaments, attracting low rollers from around the country. Around that time, the ‘Boat launched a long-running 49-cent breakfast special, which brought the locals running. The ’Boat expanded in 1963, got a facelift in 1968, added a nine-story 250-room tower in 1973, which it finished at 19 stories and 500 rooms in 1976.
The bowling alley became the largest in the country in the 1980s with 106 lanes, hosting televised professional matches and amateur events. The big bingo parlor was once the finest in town.
By 1998, the long-time owners could no longer make a go of it. The Showboat remained marooned on a Las Vegas desert island, not quite downtown, not quite on the growing Boulder Strip, and as far away as ever from the main Strip. Also, the neighborhood surrounding it was deteriorating and the local residents had bailed on the ‘Boat years earlier.
Harrah’s Entertainment bought it in 1998 and ran it for a couple of years, then sold it to a group of local investors, who renamed it (appropriately, if somewhat prophetically the Castaways and made some cosmetic improvements. But in 2003, $50 million in debt, the Castaways declared bankruptcy, then closed for good on January 29, 2004. Since Super Bowl Sunday 2004 was on February 1, however, the Castaways was mothballed right before.
Station Casinos bought the 26-acre site in late 2004 for $33.7 million and imploded the tower on January 12, 2006. Click here to watch a video clip.
The following October, Station announced plans to redevelop the property into a $90 million 20,000-square-foot phase-one "restaurant-casino" project called Castaways Station. The small casino was supposed to sport a Spanish theme and, of course, have expansion potential. But nothing ever happened with the property and, given Station’s current financial situation, we don’t expect to hear any announcements about it, other than it being sold, for a long time to come.
