The Rat Pack

RENO, Nevada (AP) — A Lake Tahoe resort once owned by Frank Sinatra and frequented by his Rat Pack buddies is about to undergo a major makeover.

The Cal Neva hotel-casino that straddles the California-Nevada line will close for
more than a year beginning Monday to allow for the multimillion-dollar project.

The 219-room, 10-story hotel and 6,000-square-foot casino will be upgraded in
an effort to revive the struggling property, said Robert Radovan, co-owner of
Criswell-Radovan. His Napa Valley, Calif.-based development company acquired
the Cal Neva in April.

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

The Cal Neva is one of Nevada’s first legal casinos. The present resort was built
in 1937, when a fire destroyed the original lodge that had opened in 1926.