Bally Plans a Paris-Themed Hotel-Casino

Bally Entertainment Corp. is planning a $420-million Paris-themed resort, complete with a 50-story replica of the Eiffel Tower, on the burgeoning Las Vegas Strip.

Construction is set to begin late this year on Bally’s Paris Casino-Resort, with completion expected in late 1997, the company said Tuesday.

Chairman Arthur M. Goldberg said continued high occupancy levels at Las Vegas hotels convinced him to proceed with the 2,500-room Paris-themed resort. He noted that about 14,000 hotel rooms were added in the city in the past two years, including more than 10,000 at three new mega-resorts in late 1993.

“Once I saw that phenomenon digested, I was convinced to move ahead,” Goldberg said. The resort will recreate some of Paris’ most famous landmarks, including replicas of the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs Elysees, the Paris Opera House and the River Seine. Three legs of the Eiffel Tower replica will rest in the casino.

The tower will include a recreation of the Jules Verne restaurant in the Paris original, and an observation lookout two-thirds of the way up the structure.

Goldberg said when he took over as Bally chairman in 1990, “We had a mountain of corporate debt to chop down, which we did.”