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Las Vegas Flamingo to Make Changes

LAS VEGAS - Park Place Entertainment has tapped a former judge and gaming regulator to lead the transformation of the Flamingo into an entertainment-driven megaresort with a greater emphasis on restaurants and music.

Lorenzo Creighton and his corporate bosses are tight-lipped about their plans for the site that Bugsy once developed, simply saying that big announcements are coming soon.

"It's a great property with a great history behind it, a good property for Park Place Entertainment," said Creighton, who starts Monday as the Flamingo's new president. "There are some plans on the drawing board to bring it to another level, but we're only going to tease you about it."

The 49-year-old Creighton's resume is filled with an eclectic mix of achievements - executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, deputy administrator of the Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission, magistrate for the First Judicial District of Iowa.

The married father of two most recently worked as Park Place's corporate vice president for government and community affairs after serving six years as the executive in charge of operations at Bally's in New Orleans.

The Flamingo is a healthy money maker for Park Place that draws a loyal clientele of tour and travel groups and price-conscious tourists.

But under President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Gallagher, who has held the company's top jobs for a little more than a year, Park Place is attempting to transform its older Strip holdings into something hipper.

Just last week, Gallagher presided over a news conference to discuss the details of singer Celine Dion's new three-year show that is scheduled to begin March 25 at Caesars Palace's soon-to-open 4,000-seat Colosseum. A year ago, Caesars opened its Shadow nightclub, which features young female dancers in body suits.

Park Place executives talk in broad terms about the future of Flamingo and trendy additions to come at Paris.

"Clearly, the Flamingo is one of the key operations within the Park Place chain," Creighton said. "It has a great location on the Strip, a great history. For all of those reasons it's critical to bring the Flamingo to another level."

The talk of change sparks some critical thoughts from an observer of the Strip scene.

"Right now I see them as a tour and travel place, a senior citizen place on the Strip," said Bill Thompson, a University of Nevada, Las Vegas professor who studies the casino industry. "It would be a cultural change. If they have loud music they're going to alienate their crowd. I don't think they want 20 year olds wandering the place."

Creighton said he and his bosses are aware that a reconfigured Flamingo could turn-off some in the property's traditional customer base. "It's a great value. The customers like it, the feel of the Flamingo," he said. "We don't want to alienate our customer base. We want to build upon the strengths."

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