Wynn gets regulators' approval to run Desert Inn

Casino mogul Steve Wynn's takeover of the old Desert Inn in Las Vegas was approved Thursday, with Wynn disclosing the landmark will close Sept. 30 and work on a new megaresort will start within nine months.

''It's a sadness. But there's a brighter day tomorrow,'' Wynn said of the closure as the Nevada Gaming Commission approved his $270 million deal. He added that he changed his mind about keeping the 715-room DI open only two days ago.

The outdated layout of the old DI, accounting for its ''Deserted Inn'' nickname, was the main reason for his decision to close the club, he added.

Wynn also said he'll try to ensure that all of the 1,500 employees at the 50-year-old Las Vegas Strip property find work at other Las Vegas hotel-casinos. They'll also have first crack at jobs once he completes the first of two new 3,000-room resorts on the south side of the DI property.

The new development probably will have another name, but won't be a themed resort. Wynn began the current boom of themed clubs with his Mirage megaresort on the Strip, but now says themes are ''a thing of the past.''

While the old DI will shut down soon, Wynn said the golf course on the 218-acre site will remain open for about a year. He'll also keep two newer structures on the north edge of the site for use as offices and parking.

When the Gaming Control Board reviewed the plans two weeks ago, Wynn was grilled about electronic bugs used in his bitter Atlantic City business fight with rival Donald Trump. But the board's parent Gaming Commission didn't bring up the issue.

The commission did follow up on the GCB's questioning of Wynn's general manager at the Desert Inn, Marc Schorr, about a chance conversation he had at a funeral with a one-time Lucchese crime family soldier, John Joseph Conti.

Schorr said he had no idea who Conti was, and if a stranger approaches him in the future, ''I'll ask for his resume.''

Wynn bought the DI after selling his Mirage Resorts Inc. to MGM Grand Inc. in a $4.4 billion deal that also had MGM assume $2 billion in Mirage debt. Las Vegas properties in that deal included the Golden Nugget, Bellagio, Mirage and Treasure Island resorts.

Wynn, the former Mirage Resorts chairman and it largest shareholder, got about $483 million in the deal, which allowed him to buy the Desert Inn.

If there's any theme for his new venture, he has said it's generally a ''relaxed elegance'' of gardens, courtyards and landscaping that might be found in any quality resort.

A Wynn flourish: the first club he builds will have an art gallery, along the lines of the one he created at the Bellagio to display his costly collection of works by Monet, Van Gogh, Renoir and others.

He also promised unique, audience-grabbing entertainment, saying shows ''will not appear to be anything that's like what is here'' on the Strip.

Wynn said he's confident about the new venture because of the prominent location of the DI and the amount of property that comes with it - including about 2,000 feet fronting on the Strip.

That confidence remains despite challenges to Nevada's casino industry such as the expansion of Indian gambling in neighboring California.

Efforts led by state Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, to raise Nevada's casino taxes also are a concern, Wynn said, adding, ''Between the Indians and Joe Neal, gaming in Nevada is in for a test.''