History of the Mapes

When the Mapes opened its doors on December 17, 1947, it was the tallest

building in Nevada and was the first hotel built in the U.S. after World War II.

It was designed by F.H. Slocombe and constructed by a well-known firm

specializing in hotel construction, Theodore P. Moorehead Engineering Co., an

associate of H.L. Stevens Company. The Mapes was often compared to the

New York Plaza Hotel, the Blackstone Hotel, and the St. Francis Hotel, during

its long years of popularity before closing its doors thirty-five years later on

December 17, 1982.

The popular Mapes became the prototype for modern hotel/casino designs. It

was the first casino complex to include gambling, dining, lodging, and

entertainment under one roof in a high-rise structure. When gambling was

legalized in 1931, many buildings were retrofitted to become or include

casinos. Casinos such as Harold's Club (1935) were simply casinos with no

hotel facilities connected to them. Casinos, such as in the Riverside, were

established on the ground floor of existing hotels. In Las Vegas, the early

casino complexes were built in a "ranch style" fashion; sprawling two story

buildings. This horizontal type was utilized by the El Rancho Vegas (1941),

the Last Frontier (1942), and the El Cortez (c1941). It was only after the

Mapes Hotel was built, that the three-part vertical composition high-rise was

adopted by the casino industry. The casino industry was the only industry to

use high-rise construction in the state until the early 70's. Now banks and

office complexes are also built in a high-rise fashion in Reno and Las Vegas.

The Mapes had two floors at ground level serving as retail space, casino,

restaurants, and hotel lobby; the body of the building served as guest quarters;

and the uppermost floor provided space for entertainment, dancing, dining,

drinking, and more gambling. Since 1947, almost all casino design in both

Reno and Las Vegas has followed the Mapes' lead in the three part vertical

composition high-rise within a urban location with multiple attractions: The

modern destination resort.

The Mapes Hotel is a twelve-story reinforced concrete and brick clad building,

built using advanced building techniques of the time. This important and rare

Art Deco hotel was built after an eight-year delay due to WWII. The hotel is

divided into a three part vertical composition and is rectangular in plan. The

two-story base had large glassed storefront windows and entrances,

surrounded by decorative terra cotta. There are eight floors of guest quarters,

one service floor, and the crowning "Sky Room" with floor to ceiling windows

overlooking the Truckee River and Virginia Street.

The building originally contained 174 guestrooms and 40 apartments. Of the

eight floors, there was one consisting of 20 guestrooms and 5 apartments,

while the others had 22 guestrooms and 5 apartments. Each apartment had a

kitchen, a dinette, a living room and a bedroom. The smallest bedroom was

10'1" x 14' and the largest, 13'10" x 17'6". The average living room size was

280 s.f. Stall showers were provided in eight guest unit bathrooms on each

floor: the other guest units and apartments had combination tub and shower.

All bathrooms had colored tile wainscoting and white ceramic tile floors. Three

apartments on each floor were located at each of the outside rounded corners,

providing panoramic views of the river corridor. The two other apartments on

each floor were provided a bay window. The entire eleventh floor contains all

the heating and air conditioning equipment for the hotel and dressing rooms

below the stage in the "Sky Room".

At the time of construction, The "Sky Room" was one of only three in the

United States. It contains space for 400 to dine, a complete kitchen, a stage, a

dance floor, a casino area, and a bar. Space was also provided for the private

Reno's Men Club and the Prospector Club.

Exterior alterations have occurred at the base

of the building and affects a small portion of

the exterior. The majority of the exterior

surface is exactly as when built. The

entrances and the storefronts have been

modified to accommodate the interior

alterations to the first floor. Seven retail

spaces were removed to add to the casino

and in 1980, the coffee shop was also

removed to enlarge the casino. The original

storefronts have been covered with concrete

panels, which are pierced with small

horizontal windows. Awnings and signage

have been added including the Large "World

Famous Sky Room" sign.

The storefront at the mezzanine level retains original decorative features: a belt

course with foliated motifs and belt course of linked chevrons divides the

mezzanine from the upper hotel section. Decorative cast aluminum grills guard

the lower section of double hung mezzanine windows. Two story tall windows

face south to view the Truckee River. Originally the Virginia Street hotel

entrance was a two story opening with stepped walls and a large glass transom.

The façade of the nine floors mid-section is composed of vertical bands of

bricks separated by windows and cast concrete spandrels decorated with a

foliated pattern. Curved window bays project from the three corners of the

building. The south elevation (river view) has two columns of slanted bay

windows reaching from the third to eleventh floor. Double hung aluminum

framed windows are arranged in singles or pairs.

The "Sky Room" level is lit by floor-to-ceiling expanses of glass and is

surrounded by a balcony of aluminum and concrete. Concrete canopies with

crowning finial tops decorated portals with stepped concrete panels. A

repeating, high relief, zigzag brick cornice terminates with Art Deco, geometric

finials along the crown.

The basement, main floor, and mezzanine each have 9,180 square feet; the

upper floors each contain 5,580 square feet for a total of 79,340 square feet.

The basement originally provided parking for forty cars, storage, barber shop,

boiler room, and Turkish bath. When opened, the ground floor contained

seven retail spaces, three facing First Street and four facing Virginia Street.

The remaining ground floor space was occupied by the combination of hotel

lobby, casino, cocktail lounge, coffee shop and kitchen. Three elevators located

across the lobby from hotel registration desk provided access to the upper

floors. The mezzanine was designed with a banquet room, offices, beauty

parlor, and model guestrooms.

Built at a cost of less than $6,500 per room, the Mapes was planned for

"efficient maintenance and operation and maximum fire safety." Guestrooms

had aluminum baseboards, toe molds, thresholds and window sashes. In the

interests of fire safety, the guestrooms were built without transoms and their

steel doors and terra cotta brick walls were intended to restrain any fire to a

single living unit. Walls with a four-hour fire resistance rating enclosed

staircases.

The Mapes is the only Art Deco hotel of its size, scale and magnitude in the

state that successfully compares to other Art Deco hotels in other urban areas

in the country. Few major Art Deco hotels remain in Nevada. The Mapes

Hotel (1947), the U.S. Post Office (1934) on Mill and South Virginia Streets,

and the El Cortez (1931) on Second and Arlington Avenue, are the only

remaining major Art Deco structures left in Reno.

Courtesy of the Truckee Meadows Heritage Trust www.mapes.com