Bodines casino opens

Workers finished screwing in the last light bulb Wednesday at the newest casino in Carson City.

Bodines, at the corner of South Carson Street and Old Clear Creek Road, is now open. The 30,000-square-foot business has 250 slot and video poker machines, a restaurant, sports book, two bars and more than 100 employees.

The view from the restaurant overlooks Fuji Park.

Larry Henry, project architect, painted Carson-inspired murals for the casino.

“I think it’s fantastic,” said Jerry Walden, who was on vacation with his wife, Joan Walden.

The couple saw the beginning of work on the building when they came from Florida to visit Lake Tahoe in December.

They said they like Northern Nevada a lot more than Las Vegas.

“Here, there’s too much too see,” Joan said. “Oh, there’s too much to see.”

The Carano family, who own the Eldorado hotel-casino and are partners in the Silver Legacy hotel-casino in Reno, own the $20 million Bodines with Mike Pegram, who owns a group of McDonald's restaurants around Phoenix, and Rick Murdock of Reno.

Customer Gail Black said the Carano family ownership tie is a plus for the new casino.

“That impressed me right away,” Black said.

“It's nice to know that a local is taking care of Carson as opposed to some group coming from anywhere else in the United States — not that we don't like our visitors.”

Both Black and another customer, Dennis Nix, said they liked the look of the casino.

The casino’s exposed beams give it a Chicago-style look, Nix said.

The most noticeable look of the building is that the name hasn’t changed.

This summer, the CBS television network sent a letter to Pegram saying the casino shouldn't use the name “Bodine” because the corporation owns the rights to that name.

“Bodine” also was the last name of Max Baer Jr.'s character, Jethro, in the popular 1960s CBS television show, “The Beverly Hillbillies.” Baer is planning to open his own casino in Douglas County.

For more information about Bodines, call 885-7777.