Lucky Spur renovators uncover a mystery

Beneath layers of wallpaper and old paint, Tommy Pardini waited for almost 50 years to be discovered again.

While the clicking of gaming chips and chattering of players out for a good time in downtown Carson City have long been silent in the dark cold building, a little piece of Tommy's Victory Club has survived.

Demolition crews working to clear the interior of the long-vacant Lucky Spur building in downtown Carson City found a mysterious mural hidden behind another painted piece on one wall.

New owners Michael Stewart and Scott Johnson, who plan to build and open Stew's Sportatorium in the building, thought it looked like a depiction of the historic Virginia & Truckee Railroad.

Victor Pardini, son of Tommy Pardini, who owned the place on Carson Street for 25 years before it was sold in 1955 to become the Silver Spur and then the Lucky Spur, remembers exactly what the painting showed.

The mural was a picture of Tommy Pardini as a young man sitting on a rail cart on V&T tracks. Another man pumping the cart was Ciro Giurlani, who was married to Tommy Pardini's sister and was manager of the club.

"I remember it," Victor Pardini said. "It was a funny little thing with my dad sitting there and Ciro was doing all the work."

Tommy Pardini died in 1962. His wife, Maria Pardini, died in 1996 at 92. His sons, Tom and Victor, still live in Carson City and said they liked the idea of the building being renovated.

Stewart said he hopes the painting can be saved during the renovation, if not he is going to try to convince his grandmother to repaint it.

"We hope to try and find a way to cut it out and remove the plaster without damaging it," Stewart said.

Stew's Sportatorium is expected to open in October in time for Nevada Day celebrations, and work is preceding close to schedule, Stewart said Tuesday.

The company, Stew's Corp., is going before the city Planning Commission today to jump one of the last planning hurdles. The company is seeking special permits to keep and renovate the Lucky Spur signs, add outdoor seating and have unlimited gaming.

If approved for special permits, the company will finish its building permits and possibly finish construction in time for an October opening, Stewart said.

The building has sat vacant for the past two decades. Believed to have been built in the1860s, it is considered one of the last true blights in the downtown area.

Most recent inhabitants of the building are hundreds of pigeons, Stewart found.

"It's a bird graveyard," Stewart said. "There's some serious generations born and raised there. We even found what looks like a skeleton of a cat. It's not been good for the local animals."

Carson resident Vern Manke said he remembers going to the Silver Spur as a young man and think's it's great something will be built again at the site. The Silver Spur was owned until 1972 by Len Thurman. He and his wife Elenor wallpapered the building, probably covering the mural, said their son Skip Thurman.

"I used to go there many years ago," Manke said. "They had a good hamburger back then."

New plans call for a restaurant with outdoor seating and games areas for both younger people and adults.

IF YOU GO

What: Carson City Planning Commission regular meeting

When: 3:30 p.m. today

Where: Sierra Room, Carson City Community Center, 851 E. William St.