Famed Sinatra Resort Shut Down for Revamp

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The legendary Lake Tahoe resort where Frank Sinatra held court for the Rat Pack and his gangster pals has been shut down for an extensive renovation.

Sinatra once owned the Cal-Neva Resort - the property straddles the California-Nevada border - but lost the gaming license in 1963, due to his much-publicized associations with Mafia figures. During its heyday, the resort was a favorite hangout for Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford and Marilyn Monroe.

But the 219-room, 10-story hotel fell on hard times in the face of competition from new resorts in the area and Indian gaming. Earlier this year the property was purchased by Criswell-Radovan, a Napa Valley, Calif.-based development company.

Criswell-Radovan is planning a 15-month renovation project to modernize the facility and reopen the casino, which was one of the first legal gambling establishments in the country.

"Our goal is to bring it back to its former glory and to make it what it was like in Sinatra's day," Robert Radovan, co-owner of Criswell-Radovan, told The Associated Press. "It has such great soul and character, and it's needed this redo for many decades."

Mr. Radovan has vowed to keep many of the properties distinctive features, including cabins used by Mr. Sinatra and his pals. Marilyn Monroe stayed in one of the cabins the weekend before she died in 1962. The property is also connected by tunnels that were first used to smuggle liquor during prohibition and later served as a convenient way for celebrities and mobsters to avoid attention as they moved around the property.

The tunnels and cabins will be preserved in the new plan, the owners say. The casino will also be reopened.

"You don't want to lose the history of the Frank Sinatra era and eras before it," Mr. Radovan said. "But you have to ... bring it back to where it's a modernized version of what it was in the heyday."

The owners hope to reopen the property by Dec. 12, 2014, which would have been Mr. Sinatra's 99th birthday.