In southern Nevada, the decade started disastrously.

On appearance, this small portfolio of properties had relegated the mighty Las Vegas to a desert relic. Between 1980-1989 gaming revenues had grown 437% totaling $18.3bn. The miracle of Atlantic City was evident from zero gaming revenue in 1977, to $325m in 1979, $640m in 1980, $1.1bn in 1981, $1.5b in 1982, close to $2bn in 1985, gaming revenues were just shy of $3bn by the end of the decade. In the coming years, more were to follow. The Brighton (renamed The Sands from 1981), Harrah’s and Steve Wynn’s Golden Nugget opened in 1980. It was shortly followed by The Boardwalk Regency, (renamed Caesars in 1983) and Bally’s Park Place in 1979. On the 26th May 1978, in only the second state in the USA to allow legal casinos, Resorts Casino Hotel opened in Atlantic City. The unemployment rate did not fall below 6% until September 1987, well after the technical end of the recession. Over the next few years, the jobless rate slowly receded, falling to 8.3% by the end of 1983 and to 7.2% by the time of the 1984 “Morning in America” Presidential election. This tightening of monetary policy was compounded by the geo-political crisis caused by the Iranian Revolution and Iran-Iraq war, and subsequent reduction in oil supply, led to inflation peaking at 20.5% With inflation at 11.1% in 1980, The Federal Reserve raised interest rates to slow money supply, which in turn caused a rise in unemployment and the economy to slow. The short recession and recovery in January to June 1980, was followed by a sustained recession from July 1981 to November 1982. The National Bureau for Economic Research cites the “double-dip” as the harshest of the late 20th Century.

The high cost of repairs made them just chalk it up to a loss and the pool was fenced off forever.There were two recessions in the USA in the early 80s, colloquially known as “The Double Dip” Recession.

After a new section of the Riviera was built in the 1980s and the grand new rooftop pool was filled with water, the resort made the unfortunate discovery that the pool leaked into the casino below. What little information I’ve been able to find about the pool – in Vegas enthusiast forum discussions and in a random online trivia quiz – indicates it was never used.

(We’ll be traveling to Vegas for our 1 year anniversary in December!) A total sucker for abandoned things and the stories behind them, I plan to drag Eric up to the roof to check this out after we finish playing with some of the (apparently equally secret) Riviera pinball machines. One little known secret of the Strip is the abandoned rooftop pool found at the Riviera! I had no idea it was there the one and only other time I visited Las Vegas.

Riviera casino las vegas 80s