Unlike our ugly sister city to the south, Reno/Carson town leaders and private owners do not implode or explode old buildings to make way for progress (notable exception being the Mapes, of course).  Instead, the economy squeezes them out of business and, as a result, buildings with dirty storefronts tend to stand unoccupied for years, waiting for someone to buy the property and do something with it.  Rarely, the pieces fall into place and abandoned lots are made into something special, like the Casino Fandango in Carson that used to be a Supply One.  Most times, though, everything just slowly crumbles away.

But once in a while, someone stands up to progress and the economy and fights to keep his business alive.  One such David was the old Liberty Belle, a classy restaurant in south Reno.  Their menu was always excellent, the atmosphere was old-style Nevada, and they owned and displayed the oldest slot machines on the West Coast.  On the downside, they had the misfortune of sitting in front of a large building owned and operated by the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority (RSCVA).

Long-term thinking and historical significance has never been a hallmark of the RSCVA; this building, their flagship convention center, is miles from downtown and the main Reno casinos, and it is landlocked between Virginia and Keitzke, two of the busiest streets in Reno.  The RSCVA has always drooled over the tiny Liberty Belle lot in front of their behemoth building because they are hungry for parking spaces.  So the battle of words and civil action began.

The war went on for years, with the LB winning every round in the court of law and public opinion, and with the RSCVA developing all of the land around it, but time was against the LB.  The owners weren’t getting any younger and they wanted to move on, anyway.  The RSCVA knew this and finally presented an offer the LB couldn’t refuse: a cool million for their tiny plot of land and the right to tear down the building.

And so it ends with Goliath beating David.  The LB owners will auction off the slot machines, pocket their million bucks and take care of their families.  The RSCVA will gain thirty or forty parking spaces.  And we all will lose a little bit of what made Old Nevada a very special place to live.