The Silver Nugget casino in North Las Vegas is boarded-up, but next to the shuttered building, its event center is still holding gatherings.
Just ask the crowds of people who showed up Wednesday for a World Cup watch party.
Hundreds of soccer fans made their way to the Silver Nugget Event Center, on Las Vegas Boulevard just north of Lake Mead Boulevard, to watch Mexico play the Czech Republic. It was a one-sided crowd, as the space was packed with people wearing Mexico jerseys.
The broadcast on Telemundo was shown on a jumbo screen, and several Latino-focused advocacy groups also had tables inside.
All told, the Silver Nugget Event Center has been a popular spot for Latino cultural events, and as seen this week, it’s still open for business, even if the casino is not.
“The space has always been very welcome to our community,” said Angel Lazcano, Nevada program manager with watch-party organizer Somos Votantes, a Latino voter engagement group.
‘A no-brainer’
He said the group wanted a big facility for the event and that the Silver Nugget is centrally located. He also noted that the space is indoors, letting people escape the heat, and said other venues that could hold this many people were outside.
“It was kind of a no-brainer,” he said.
According to Lazcano, around 600 people were expected to attend the watch party.
He said his group thought about the shuttered casino when they booked the event. Homeless people have set up camp at the property over the past few years, city records show, and the casino’s entry points are covered with plywood.
But concerts and other gatherings have still been held in the event center, and Lazcano said that people know how to get to the venue.
“There’s still stuff going on here,” he said.
Silver Nugget operator Fifth Street Gaming did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
The Silver Nugget, 2140 Las Vegas Blvd. North, was built in the 1960s and neighbors North Las Vegas City Hall. According to Fifth Street, the property features a 24-lane bowling alley, sportsbook, bingo area, and 14,000-square-foot event center.
However, the main entrance to the casino was apparently boarded-up by the fall of 2024, and homeless people have since been spotted outside.
Still ‘operational’
In late 2024, for instance, several large boxes outside were being used as a homeless encampment, and a utility box had been opened and was being used to store clothing, bags and other items, according to a North Las Vegas code-enforcement report.
A month or so later, city records show, several homeless people were found sleeping around the utility box.
Nevada Gaming Control Board spokeswoman Jennifer Morton said in March that the Silver Nugget remained “operational,” as it periodically opened its casino floor and events center to the public.
In general, companies in Nevada can keep their gaming license active at shuttered or even vacant properties by running temporary casinos on-site.
North Las Vegas spokeswoman Liz Abebefe said on Thursday that no development plans have been filed for the site.
Councilman Isaac Barron, whose ward includes the property, said that this side of town is kind of overlooked and suffers a bit more economically.
But he said there is “a lot of vibrancy here,” and he wasn’t surprised the event center still gets gatherings.
Voter outreach
Nancy Nunez, a cocktail server and bartender at the Silver Nugget property, said on Wednesday that the event center has still been holding gatherings since the casino closed.
“That has not stopped,” she said.
Nunez said that people have weddings, quinceañeras, graduation parties and the like at the venue, noting it holds a lot of Latino cultural events.
Meanwhile, several organizations set up tables at the watch party to distribute information.
They included Somos Votantes; climate-focused Chispa Nevada; women-focused Las Doñas, which pushes for affordable childcare, safe workplaces and other issues; and the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada Action Fund.
Chicanos Por La Causa, which focuses on such issues as health and housing, also had a table, as did Grita Canta Vota, which says it uses music to boost Latino voter registration.
Latinos account for 20 percent of Nevada’s total voter pool, but the demographic, like others, does not exist as a monolith and vote the same way together.
In the run-up to the 2024 general election, Democrats and Republicans hosted events in Nevada themed around Hispanic Heritage Month, in an attempt to garner support among Latino voters.
‘It’s everywhere in Vegas’
At the watch party on Wednesday, not everyone was interested in watching two national soccer teams battle it out in the global sporting event.
In the back corner of the Silver Nugget event space, in an area set up with gaming consoles, several kids were playing video games.
With their backs to the World Cup match, two kids were playing a Street Fighter-type game, while a few others were playing a virtual soccer match of Mexico vs. Germany.
But plenty of other people were there to watch the live action and root for Mexico, which won 3-0.
Joshua Ramirez, who lives nearby, said that he used to visit the Silver Nugget to go bowling and hang out. He also said that he’s been to concerts at the event center, showing up to hear Banda music, dance and have a good time.
Ramirez, 18, has seen homeless people outside the casino building. But he said this doesn’t affect him, and he noted the Silver Nugget is by no means unique.
Across the Las Vegas Valley, it’s not uncommon for homeless people to camp out in or around abandoned buildings or on dirt lots.
“It’s everywhere in Vegas,” Ramirez said. “Where is it not?”
Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Review-Journal staff writer Ricardo Torres-Cortez contributed to this report.
