Wynn back in gaming business at Desert Inn

Steve Wynn told gaming regulators Wednesday he plans to replace the Desert Inn and build another major resort next to it on the Las Vegas Strip.

The entrepreneur who in March sold Mirage Resorts for $6.7 billion said he's surprised to be back in gaming so quickly but that the historic 50-year-old inn, which he said has too long been "overlooked," is his kind of challenge.

"I've always looked at the Desert Inn and said, 'One of these days someone's going to get that and figure the jigsaw puzzle out,'" he said. "It's never presented itself as an easy solution."

Wynn said he plans to quickly begin building a Mirage-sized casino next to the inn as with 2,000 feet of frontage on Las Vegas Boulevard there's plenty of room.

"And flanked by the Sans Expo Center and the Las Vegas Convention Center, it's unquestionably the best site on the Strip," he said.

Wynn presented his plans to the Nevada Gaming Control Board Wednesday. The three-member panel voted unanimously to recommend he be authorized to buy and operate the inn. The Gaming Commission is expected to approve that recommendation June 23.

Wynn said he hopes to keep the Deseert Inn operating while the new resort is built.

"It'll be a great advantage if we can keep it open while the new one is built," he said.

Then, he said, the Desert Inn will come down so a replacement can be built because "it doesn't represent the kind of facility that can compete with the kinds of places I operated in the past."

The resorts he recently sold include the Golden Nugget, Bellagio, Treasure Island and Mirage.

"It's my intention to build two buildings," he said ."It's a multiple project site."

But he also admitted that may not finally include the golf course now on the 220-acre site. He said that decision hasn't been made.

But Wynn made it clear he intends to remake the inn into another star on the Las Vegas Strip.

"It's the most delicious thing a man can do and will probably take 10 years," he said. "And that suits me to a tee."

"One of the slang terms it's called is the Deserted Inn," said Wynn. "We'll see about that."

The Desert Inn is one of the oldest resorts on the Strip, celebrating its 50th birthday this past April. It was built by Wilbur Clark, who built the Strip's first casino, the El Rancho, in 1944.

The DI received a $200 million remodel in 1997, turning it into a high-end resort. It is now owned by Starwood.

Along with the hotel/casino, Wynn gets the DI's 18-hole golf course, a 32-acre vacant parcel on the Strip next door. He said the operation will also own all but about 18 of the 76 homes in the Desert Inn Country Club.