Celebrating Jubilant Chaos!

A Look Back at 33 Years of Gaming in Cripple Creek

Rick Langenberg

As Cripple Creek and Teller County celebrate one of the biggest economic ace cards that ever struck the region, starting this week, residents and community leaders probably need to send a big thank you note to anti-tax crusader Doug Bruce, the author of the infamous Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

In addition, they probably should play a song or two from Fleetwood Mac’s classic album Rumours. Yes, boys and girls, crazy rumors are what set the stage for legal gambling in Cripple Creek. Whoever thought that the band members of Fleetwood Mac and the citizens of Teller County would share a common trait, an addiction to rumors.

I still assert that the gaming concept started from outright rumors, and even exaggerated tales spread by the local and regional media (yes, including The Mountain Jackpot) and some well-intended civic leaders and business owners.  In its big gamble, Cripple Creek tried to follow in the footsteps of Deadwood, South Dakota, which became one of the first historic towns in the West to resurrect its fortunes through Games of Chance.

No question about it, the first day, month and even winter/summer of legal betting was wild, almost like a celebration of “Jubilant Chaos.” Rules, what rules? Cripple Creek went from a town with a few employees into an actual city that now sported a planning and historic preservation commission, a building official, a greatly enlarged police force, park and rec agency; and more notably, a stressed-out city council, who found their volunteer assignments turning into full-time jobs. Town meetings, once attended by a few people, unless they talked about junk cars and the donkeys, were frequented weekly by more than 100 people, half of whom were lawyers.

The Red Lantern Inn, the local bar/eatery hub at the time, showcased crowds of several hundred people, following the council sessions, with Lantern-attendees on council night prepared to solve every issue facing mankind. Of course, the biggest challenge on the plate involved turning Cripple Creek from a dying town with deteriorating, falling-down buildings into a thriving place, with limited gaming serving as the engine behind this transformation. Cripple Creek, like many small historic-tourist towns in Colorado at the time, encountered rough times in the late 1980s, as the resort communities (Breckenridge, Vail, Aspen and Telluride) took an aggressive push in promoting summer activities and events. This dire reality for Cripple Creek prompted town leaders to think of other options to avoid a ghost town scenario. The answer they reached: limited stakes gaming.

The Birth of Gaming in Cripple Creek

33 Years ago, today (Oct. 1) the big gamble actually began in Cripple Creek, a development that transformed the face of Teller County.  Only a handful of casinos opened on Oct. 1, 1991, as thousands descended on the old mining town.  Speeches were made by key officials and then the mad scramble occurred for an available betting device (which often involved a 30-minute wait). Meanwhile, most casino operators, city officials and journalists experienced no sleep for several weeks in preparation for the big day. Travelers wanting to come to Cripple Creek to witness history were warned of huge traffic delays.

The atmosphere on opening day was one of outright jubilation.

Opening day led to a casino boom that showcased close to 35 casinos by mid-summer. Then came the crash, the large taking over the small, a trend that still persists today somewhat. It took years for the town to experience a stable gaming hand. Of course, the industry had some rocky moments, including a state smoking ban, the infamous Coronavirus epidemic, competitive threats from other Colorado towns and racetracks, and constant fights with state officials.

The Preparation of Gaming

But much of the story began with the preparation for this historic moment.

When Colorado voters approved a proposition for limited stakes gaming in Nov. 1990, citizens of Teller County didn’t know what to expect. They had less than a year to prepare for the inevitable.  Much debate ensued locally on the course the town should chart, and whether casinos should have a limited number of devices, or if gambling should be permitted in a more restrictive area. In the end, the forces the supported the free-market system won the fight, which actually was decided by a local vote. And of course, the preparation period was capped by some grandiose presentations of future projects that had everyone’s head spinning.

Thank You Doug Bruce

Gaming proponents in Cripple Creek and Teller County need to thank Doug Bruce. Doug was in the process of starting to develop support for his TABOR concept, a plan that scarred the heck out of then Colorado Governor Roy Romer.  Romer was a big foe of the limited stakes gaming movement and made it clear that legal betting “will occur over my Dead Body.”  But by the governor’s admission, he had to make a choice between fighting the Cripple Creek/Colorado gaming proposition, or fighting Doug Bruce, whom he referred to as a state terrorist. He chose Doug Bruce, and the governor campaigned hard against the  TABOR proposition and won.  But it was short-lived victory, as two years later Bruce’s TABOR plan was approved by the Colorado voters, who always liked the idea of putting plans for new taxes and fees to a vote of the people.

As a result, the pro-gambling campaign in Cripple Creek, Central City and Black Hawk took off. Local business owners worked their tails off in collecting signatures and forcing a state vote and convincing citizens of Colorado to support their cause. The mountain communities overcame many obstacles and won by a fairly large margin

A Community of Characters

As we celebrate 33 years of gaming, probably one of the biggest trademarks was the infamous number of absolute “characters” that dominated the landscape.  We even had a “Cannon Man” who would monitor order in an unusual way. Just stay away from his cannon. This title belonged to the late Danny Fay.

Cripple Creek gaming can’t be accused of lacking unique personalities.

Some of these early characters included Mayor June Hack, City Administrator Kip Petersen, Marketing Director Doug Shane, Casino Manager James Krajeck, Acting Wiz Mel Moser, Build A Generation Director Lisa Noble, Wild West Wildman Nick, Councilwoman Melissa Trenary, Business Owner, Mayor and Councilman Terry Wahrer, Business Visionary Maurice Woods, Museum Director Jan Mackell, Historic Preservation King Brian Levine, Planning Chief Larry Manning, Casino Manager Bobby “C”, and of course a few celebrities from the Mountain Crackpot. This is just the short list.

There were some wild times, with one casino operator opting to paint a huge American flagpole display purple in the middle of the night in frustration against a planning commission decision; allegations of theft against the city; grandiose development plans that were dubbed as “Williamsburg of the West,” and some marathon meetings that almost turned into fist fights.

With the huge surge in casinos initially, it was only a matter of time before the big shake-out period developed. The large taking over the small became a predominant trend and is probably one of the saddest chapters of gaming in Cripple Creek, in my opinion. The death of small gaming establishments, such as the Black Diamond, the Palace, and Wild, Wild West was one unfortunate development of the realities of Colorado gaming.  That, and the difficulties many retail shops experienced due to escalating taxes, probably would have to go down as the biggest downers.

A Destination Area

But as we celebrate the Big Gamble this week, and remember the wild times, it’s interesting how the same initial pursuits have returned full circle. Even back in 1991, the term “Destination Area” got dished out repeatedly by just about every developer and civic leader and city official; and became the calling card vision for Cripple Creek gaming.  And now with the $300 million-plus Chamonix development and other forthcoming lodging ventures and housing projects, this dream has started to get real in 2024, even if it took 33 years to transpire.

In fact, the town is not talking about home-rule and a Main Street identity, two concepts that got butchered in previous years.

But one fact remains constant throughout Cripple Creek’s history and development as a gaming community.  This town is one tough Survivor.