Circus Circus Reno facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Circus Circus Reno |
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| Location | Reno, Nevada, U.S. |
| Address | 500 North Sierra Street |
| Opening date | July 1, 1978 |
| Theme | Circus |
| No. of rooms | 1,620 |
| Total gaming space | 66,515 sq ft (6,179.4 m2) |
| Permanent shows | Casino cabaret Circus acts |
| Signature attractions | Carnival midway |
| Owner | Caesars Entertainment |
| Architect | David Jacobson Associates Worth Group |
| Renovated in | 1981: North Tower 1985: Sky Tower 1995: Silver Legacy Sky Bridge access 1997: North Parking Garage and Art Gecko's Southwest Grill 1998: Main Street Deli 1999: Courtyard Buffet, Kokopelli's Sushi and Three Ring Coffee Shop 2000: Amici's Pasta & Pizza 2001: Amici's Pasta & Steaks 2002: The Steakhouse at Circus 2004: Americana Café and Bonici Brothers 2008: Smokin' Gecko's BBQ 2012: Dos Geckos Cantina 2016: Carnival midway, Sips Coffee & Tea and El Jefe's Cantina 2017: Kanpai Sushi, North Tower, Panda Express, Piezzetta Pizza Kitchen, The Habit Burger Grill, Madame Butterwork's Curious Café and Yogurt Beach 2018: Sky Tower |
| Coordinates | 39°31′53″N 119°48′57″W / 39.531428°N 119.815698°W |
Circus Circus Reno is a fun hotel and casino located in Downtown Reno, Nevada. It's part of a group of connected hotels in downtown Reno. These include Silver Legacy Reno and Eldorado Reno. All are owned by Caesars Entertainment.
Circus Circus Reno has a large hotel with 1,620 rooms. It also has a big casino area, which is about 66,515 square feet. A cool feature is the free circus acts. These shows happen often throughout the day. You can watch them over the carnival midway, which also has 33 fun games.
This hotel is the second-largest in downtown Reno. It's the third-largest in the whole Reno area, based on the number of rooms. Before Caesars Entertainment, the hotel was owned by other companies. These included Mandalay Resort Group (from 1978 to 2005) and MGM Resorts International (from 2005 to 2015).
History of Circus Circus Reno
The building where Circus Circus Reno now stands has an interesting past. It was first built as a large department store called Gray, Reid & Wright. At that time, it was the only department store in the entire state of Nevada. It opened on November 7, 1957. This new store replaced an older one that was destroyed by a gas explosion earlier that year.
The original department store was quite big. It had about 40,000 square feet of shopping space. There was also 6,000 square feet for storage in the basement. Shoppers could visit two retail floors using escalators. The store had 45 different sections. You could find electronics, books, music, and even a wine shop. There was also a restaurant, a beauty salon, and a shoe repair shop.
In 1977, there were plans to make the store even bigger. The idea was to add two more floors and 102 hotel rooms. They also planned to add a casino. This casino would have been called Camp 14 and had a logging theme. However, these plans never happened. The Gray, Reid & Wright store moved to a new location in July 1977.
Instead, the owners were approached by Circus Circus Enterprises. This company also ran the famous Circus Circus Las Vegas. After about a year of changes, the casino opened on July 1, 1978. It opened on the same day as two other casinos in Reno. Circus Circus Reno was inspired by the growing popularity of casinos. Companies wanted to join in on the excitement. The Reno Circus opened with a small hotel. It had many attractions similar to its Las Vegas sister location.
Hotel Towers and Features
Circus Circus Reno has three main hotel towers. These are called the North Tower, the Casino Tower, and the Sky Tower. Each tower adds to the hotel's many rooms.
The North Tower opened in 1981. It has 625 rooms for guests. This tower stands about 225 feet tall and has 22 floors. The Sky Tower is even taller. It opened in 1985 and has 905 rooms. This tower reaches about 278 feet high and has 27 floors.
In 1995, the hotel went through big updates. The area with restaurants and the midway were remodeled. A special sky bridge was also added. This bridge connects Circus Circus Reno to the Silver Legacy Reno hotel. The different towers are also connected by a unique monorail system.
In 2008, there were plans to build an indoor swimming pool. Before 1995, guests at Circus Circus did not have a pool to use. The new pool was planned to be under a glass roof. It would have been located above the sky bridge tram station. However, this pool project was never started. All mentions of it were later removed from the resort's website.
The famous Topsy The Clown sign is a well-known landmark. It was designed by Gordon Tietjen. The sign was made by the Young Electric Sign Company.
Recent Changes
On July 7, 2015, MGM Resorts International agreed to sell its Reno properties. This included Circus Circus Reno and half of the Silver Legacy. Eldorado Resorts bought them for $72.5 million. The sale was approved and finished in November of that year.
On September 5, 2016, Eldorado Resorts closed the Courtyard Buffet. This buffet was also known as the Big Top Buffet. It was replaced with a modern food court. This new food court offers quick and casual dining options. It includes popular places like Panda Express, Piezzetta Pizza Kitchen, and The Habit Burger Grill. The Courtyard Buffet name was used from 1999 until 2016.
Images for kids
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The outside of Circus Circus Reno.
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The logo for Circus Circus Reno.
