- Agua Caliente Casino and Hotel
The Agua Caliente Casino and Resort opened in June 1928 in the Mexican city of
Tijuana ,Baja California . It was a lavish resort that included a casino, spa, championship golf and tennis facilities, its own airstrip, and lots of entertainment. Stylistically, the resort was an amalgam of Mexican colonial, California mission, and neo-Islamic designs that ranged from mosaic minarets, to cozy guest bungalows, to steaming Turkish baths. [http://www.mexicodesconocido.com.mx/espanol/centros_y_monumentos_historicos/norte/detalle.cfm?idcat=4&idsec=21&idsub=0&idpag=2069] It was designed by 19-year-old architectWayne McAllister and built byBaron Long ,Wirt Bowman andJames Crofton . Some sources note the fourth partner wasAbelardo L. Rodríguez , Military Commander andGovernor of Baja California , and future Mexican President. [http://www.sandiego.edu/tijuana/tjtimeline.html] The $2.5 millionAgua Caliente racetrack opened in December 1929. [http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20041228/news_1s28caliente.html]Drinking, gambling and horse racing were illegal in the neighboring
U.S. state ofCalifornia , so many wealthy Americans andHollywood celebrities flocked to Agua Caliente. The actressRita Hayworth was discovered there while performing in a show. The films "In Caliente" and "The Champ " were filmed on location there. The highlight of the opulent casino was the Gold Room, where patrons could only bet using gold chips, with a rumored $500 minimum wager.Mexican President
Lázaro Cárdenas outlawed gambling in 1935 and closed the resort. It became a state-run school,Escuela Preparatoria Federal Lázaro Cárdenas and eventually fell into a sad state of disrepair. Remnants of the original buildings--the entrance to the pool, a minaret here and there--remain next to the Plaza Minarete strip center at the end of Avenida Sanchez Taboada. Although the casino and hotel were closed, theAgua Caliente racetrack continued to operate for many years. The original grandstand structure was destroyed by fire in 1971, but was rebuilt and continues to operate today, just a shadow of its opulent beginnings. [http://horseracing.about.com/od/bookreviews/gr/aa091904a.htm]References
The Agua Caliente Story: Remembering Mexico's Legendary Racetrack, David Jimenez Beltran (Blood-Horse Publications: Lexington, Kentucky) 2004
The Leisure Architecture of Wayne McAllister, Chris Nichols (Gibbs Smith, Publisher: Layton, Utah) 2007 [http://www.gibbs-smith.com/contributorinfo.cfm?ContribID=710]
External links
* [http://waynemcallister.com/ Wayne McAllister]
* [http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/pharlap/leaving/movieagua.asp/ Watch Phar Lap win the Caliente Handicap in 1932]
* [http://www.eclipsepress.com/mediaroom/pdf/agua_caliente_ex.pdf/ Seabiscuit racing at Agua Caliente in 1938]
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