Fourth Street’s future continues to unfold

Fountains are in the future for Fourth Street in west Reno.

First, though, the old Carriage Inn at Fourth and Washington streets is being demolished as part of Jacobs Entertainment Inc.’s bigger plans for a “Fountain District” running from Keystone Avenue east into downtown Reno.

Chairman and CEO Jeff Jacobs, whose company had acquired the rundown motel, joined Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve and other officials to witness the start of demolition of the Carriage Inn last week and said details of the plans will not be divulged until spring.

But in the end, the broader mission of renovating Fourth Street will show marked improvements, he said. That will include fountains along Fourth Street, along with roundabouts at the intersections with Washington and Ralston streets.

The district will be anchored by the Gold Dust West gaming property at Fourth and Vine streets and the 833-room Sands Regency Casino Hotel, which Jacobs Entertainment acquired for an undisclosed price earlier this year from Truckee Gaming LLC, at Fourth and Arlington Avenue.

The Carriage Inn has been the site of 606 police calls since 2014, officials said at the demolition ceremony in which Schieve took the helm of the heavy equipment taking the first bite out of the building.

“This speaks volumes about private and public partnerships,” Schieve said of the effort by Jacobs and the Reno Housing Authority to relocate tenants of the dilapidated Carriage Inn, known decades ago as the Town Aire Motel, to other locations.

“This is one of those properties we identified as a massive challenge to the community,” Schieve said. “Every one of those (tenants) has been relocated to something more livable.”