10 Buildings In Deadwood To Reopen

DEADWOOD, SD -  
Part of historic downtown Deadwood that closed last spring is nearly ready to reopen. But it may not be what you expect.

It's always been known as the "Bad Lands" of Deadwood, and the name will stay. Unlike other parts of town, it won’t be based around gaming. But your odds are pretty good of walking away a winner.

One year ago, 10 buildings in the historic lower Main Street of Deadwood closed for financial reasons. But now with a new look, the doors will once again be swinging.

"What we’re looking to do is to create some environments so when people do go up and down Main Street, they have a real attractive, viable option that isn't based solely around casino operations," Property Manager Dick Pluimer said.

Pluimer said the shops will focus on the higher end. One store will feature western apparel. They will also bring back what Pluimer said was one of the best steakhouses in Deadwood, the Wild West Steakhouse. While just two of the ten buildings will have gaming, your odds are pretty good.

"We're gonna limit our devices to 60 devices in two buildings and we'll set those at 94 percent payout, which is the highest in the City of Deadwood," Pluimer said.

So far this year, gaming in Deadwood has been consistently down. But that's not something Pluimer is worried about.

"From a retail standpoint, a restaurant standpoint, bringing some of these specialty kinds of purposes, the smoking ban wouldn't really have that much of an affect on us," Pluimer said.

And of course in Deadwood, history is everything.

"I mean this was the home of the Green Door Brothels, Purple Door, so we're going to be incorporating some of the historic elements back into how we display the property," Pluimer said.

They plan to open up some of the property next week and have it completely finished by Memorial Day.