We parked in the empty lot fronting an outlet mall in the small casino town of Primm, Nevada, and an eerie feeling swept over me. I didn’t see anyone walking in or out. We were the only ones here, as far as I could tell.
I decided to take the exit when we were about three hours into our road trip from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Primm sits beside the California-Nevada border and is roughly 40 miles from Las Vegas, right off Interstate 15. My family and I were less than an hour away from our real vacation.
Primm is actually the first encouraging sign that you’re almost to Las Vegas after a long drive through the desert. At the border are three casinos rising from the barren landscape. Buffalo Bill’s, Whiskey Pete’s and Primm Valley — which constitute Primm Valley Casino Resorts — are themed resorts that look like they’ve seen better days. Desperado, the huge roller coaster that wraps around Buffalo Bill’s, sits quiet.
In the past, my stops at Primm have been brief, apart from one Thanksgiving weekend when I made the last-minute decision to overnight at Buffalo Bill’s when the gridlock traffic became unbearable. The room was cheap, and the air conditioning was cold, but the hotel was dated, and I didn’t want to stay longer than we had to. On this day, I went to shop at Prizm Outlets, formerly known as the Fashion Outlets of Las Vegas. But I couldn’t even tell if the mall was open.
Prizm Outlets in Primm, Nev., was deserted with very few people around on a recent visit.
I walked to the entrance to check, and a sign taped to the door read, “We are open.” Still not believing it, I peeked my head inside. The mall looked abandoned. Nevertheless, my curiosity overcame me, and I walked inside, having never been in a deserted mall before.
There are only four stores open, the sign says. Every other store in the 370,000-square-foot mall is shuttered, empty and closed. It has a decorative interior, full of murals and statues, but the large water fountains are drained dry. It feels post-apocalyptic, and my binge-watching pastime had me thinking of scenes from “Day of the Dead,” “The Walking Dead” and “The Last of Us.” Were zombies just around the corner?
Finally, I spotted three ladies walking toward Bath & Body Works, one of the stores still open. I felt relieved we weren’t completely alone.
The 1990s were Primm’s heyday. Back then, it wasn’t a town to pass through. It was a place to stop and stay for a while.
It began as the dream of Ernest Primm, who bought 400 acres at the border in the 1950s, in an area originally called State Line. The federal government deeded him 400 more, and he built a small motel and a coffee shop. He put in slot machines. People started to come.
In 1981, Primm died, and his son, Gary Primm, built the casino hotels you can see from the highway. The motel became Whiskey Pete’s, in honor of a local gas station owner and entrepreneur who bootlegged whiskey. Gary built Primm Valley, originally called Primadonna, in 1990; Buffalo Bill’s came next, in 1994.
The Desperado roller coaster goes around Buffalo Bill’s in Primm, Nev. Now closed, it was once the world’s tallest roller coaster.
It opened with family-friendly activities that appealed to all ages. There was the Adventure Canyon Log Flume, a water ride much like Disneyland’s Splash Mountain. And there was Desperado, which reaches a height of 209 feet and had coasters cruising it at speeds of up to 90 miles per hour. In 1996, it was named the world’s tallest roller coaster by Guinness World Records — a title it no longer holds. But back then, people traveled from all over the world to ride it, effectively turning State Line into a destination.
The town was officially renamed Primm in 1996. “Designating State Line as Primm is the best way I can think of to honor my father, his diligence and his dreams for this area,” Gary Primm told the Las Vegas Sun in 1996. “I have tried to maintain what I believe was his vision. So far, it has proved as successful as our family could have hoped.”
Today, the roller coaster and log flume are closed. There’s no scheduled date for reopening, a reservationist told me over the phone. (SFGATE reached out to Affinity Gaming, owner of Primm Valley Casino Resorts, for comment and did not receive a response by the time of publication.)
During SFGATE contributing editor Christine Hitt’s recent visit, Prizm Outlets in Primm, Nev., only had four stores open.
A shadow of its former self, Primm lost its energetic personality through the years. MGM Grand bought the casinos from the Primm family in 1998, then sold them to Affinity Gaming in 2007.
The mall went through ownership changes many times too. It had financial issues and was foreclosed in 2018. It was bought in 2021 at a depreciated value by a firm specializing in “buying ‘troubled’ shopping malls.” It’s unclear what its future holds. (SFGATE reached out to Prizm Outlets and did not receive a response.)
There are a few things going for Primm, though. The hotels are budget-conscious, and the casinos are open. Buffalo Bill’s even recently underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation, with redesigned rooms and new restaurants. Its event venue, the 6,500-seat Star of the Desert Arena, regularly hosts musical acts. The upcoming lineup includes Patti LaBelle, Los Huracanes del Norte and Collective Soul.
Originally at Whiskey Pete’s, the Bonnie and Clyde exhibit at Buffalo Bill’s in Primm, Nev., features the car in which they were killed. More than 100 bullet holes can be seen on its exterior.
Primm is also home to one very unique piece of history: Bonnie and Clyde’s death car.
In 1934, the murderous bank-robbing couple were killed when officers ambushed their vehicle and opened fire. The exhibit, which you can find at Buffalo Bill’s, features their Ford V-8, riddled with bullet holes, items from the car and other artifacts. It’s been in Primm since 1988, when Gary Primm purchased it for $250,000.
Of all the peculiar places around Primm, one spot is livelier than the rest. Across from the mall is the Lotto Store, a small square building. Its parking lot is full of cars. Also owned by Affinity Gaming, the store sits on the California side of the border. Inside, the walls are lined with Scratchers vending machines, and people stand in line to purchase California lottery tickets.
The Lotto Store, located in California across the state border from Primm, Nev., is where many Las Vegas residents go to pick up California Lottery Scratchers and tickets.
Christine Hitt/SFGATE
Despite Nevada’s gambling history, the state has not been able to pass a law to establish a state lottery system. Instead, Nevada residents drive to Primm to play. It’s such a popular activity that the Lotto Store is one of California Lottery’s top-selling retailers.
As we drove back onto the I-15 to Las Vegas, I turned and took one last look at the mall. Although I didn’t have any luck shopping, the mall’s deserted nature was an attraction in and of itself. Still, I’m not in need of any lotto tickets, so I’m not certain there’s a reason for me to stop by Primm in the future, unless maybe one of those epic rides opens up again. Or there’s another one of those pesky holiday weekend traffic jams, of course.
Striking an optimistic tone and urging bipartisanship, Gov. Joe Lombardo delivered a State of the State address Wednesday night with proposals to finish vote counting on Election Day, make more thefts qualify as felonies, and get more homes and apartments built.
“The state of our state is steadily improving,” he said. “We are certainly headed in the right direction and the outlook is positive.”
“Combining the collective will of the 63 of you and me, we can build more than houses; we can convert Nevada’s promise into reality, a place where every family can thrive, every community can grow, and every dream can find a home,” Lombardo said, referencing the number of state Senate and Assembly members. “That’s the Nevada way.”
The Republican governor’s desire to work together this year comes as no surprise given that in 2023, the majority-Democrat Legislature called Lombardo’s bluff by passing bills the governor said he wouldn’t sign. He delivered a record 75 vetoes.
After November’s election, he still faces a Legislature where Democrats dominate but do not hold a supermajority, making his veto pen a real threat in negotiations. Bipartisanship will be required to get approval for significant bills.
His remarks were greeted with punctuations of applause from lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle. Along with frequent water-bottle breaks, he got looser as he went along, smiling, addressing people in the gallery and going off-script to make a few jokes.
He announced a $12.7 billion budget that he said would make teacher pay raises permanent and extend them to charter school teachers.
The next legislative session starts Feb. 3 and officially lasts 120 days.
Lombardo, a former Clark County sheriff, summarized five priorities he plans to push in the Legislature.
Before announcing them, he told the gallery of lawmakers at the Nevada Assembly, “I would ask that before some of you say ‘No,’ work with me, collaborate with my agency heads, ask questions, give input, offer alternatives and set aside partisan politics.”
• Nevada Housing Attainability Act: Lombardo said this proposal would streamline permits, reduce building fees and prioritize state funding that will support $1 billion in new “attainable” housing units across Nevada, rather than the buzzword of “affordable.”
He blamed Nevada’s housing crisis on the federal government’s reluctance to release some of its land — it controls more than 80% of the state — and said that he expects President-elect Donald Trump to help make that happen “but, while we press for federal action, we’re not waiting.”
Also highlighted was the recent approval of a $200 million public-private partnership to provide homeless services called the Campus for Hope.
• Nevada Healthcare Access Act: Lombardo noted that, “With some of the lowest provider-to-patient ratios in the nation, far too many Nevadans are left waiting for care or worse, going without it.”
To partly address this, he said, he would propose that by 2028, all health insurance plans in Nevada will be required to adopt standardized and digitized prior authorization plans, reducing delays for patients and providers.
He said he would double the state’s investment in graduate medical education and incentivize providers to set up in underserved areas. The plan would also create an Office of Mental Health to expand access to behavioral health services and improve coordination of care.
• Nevada Accountability in Education Act: Lombardo said he would revisit his efforts to expand school choice, after noting he’s unsatisfied with Nevada consistently ranking near the bottom nationally on education measurements.
“No child should be trapped in a failing school because of their ZIP code or held down because of how much their parents or grandparents earn,” he said.
He added his bill proposal would include “transportation support” to help families choose other schools for their children.
• Nevada Safe Streets and Neighborhoods Act: This would reduce the amount of a theft that would trigger a felony charge and increase penalties for repeat offenders.
It would also prohibit the use of diversion courts for offenders who commit crimes against children or the elderly.
• Economic Development Policy Reform Act: Earlier in his remarks, Lombardo mentioned Nevada’s highest-in-the-nation unemployment rate of 5.7%. His economic plan would give tax credits to childcare facilities so that they could potentially charge lower rates and help more people enter the workforce.
• Creating More Government Effectiveness: He vowed to evaluate each of the state government’s more than 300 boards and commissions to see which ones have outlived their usefulness.
Speaker of the Nevada Assembly, Democrat Steve Yeager, gave a recorded response to Lombardo’s State of the State.
“This past November, Nevada voters again overwhelmingly voted for Democrats to lead our state Legislature,” he said.
Asking the governor not to break his veto record from the previous session, he urged that Lombardo work with Democrats while also emphasizing differences with Republicans.
Democratic legislators, he said, will:
In response to Lombardo’s crime proposal, Yeager said, “We must not backtrack to the failed ‘tough on crime’ legislation of the 1990s that was expensive, wasteful and ineffective without making us any safer.”
Democratic groups also released statements criticizing Lombardo.
Nevada State Democratic Party executive director Hilary Barrett sent out a lengthy, detailed memo criticizing Lombardo’s first two years in office.
“When it comes to housing, health care, education and public safety, Nevadans are measurably worse off due to the actions of Lombardo and his commitment to prioritizing powerful special interests and his own political self-interest,” she said.
Laura Martin, executive director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, said corporate landlords are artificially inflating housing costs and that the governor’s proposal to use federal land for more housing will make things worse.
“Lombardo’s plan that promotes urban sprawl as a solution to the housing crisis will only exacerbate the existing climate crisis, when we should be prioritizing infill,” she said.
“We should be investing in the future of Nevada by making sure our aging communities and schools are climate resilient, not with another stadium, movie studio, or mass deportations.”
Mark Robison is the state politics reporter for the Reno Gazette Journal, with occasional forays into other topics. Email comments to mrobison@rgj.com or comment on Mark’s Greater Reno Facebook page.
This evening, Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo will provide the 2025 State of the State address ahead of the incoming 83rd legislative session, which begins Feb. 3, 2025.
Lombardo is anticipated to cover a number of topics including the economy, inflation, education, housing, and more.
In addition, Carson City 5th grade choir students will be performing at the address, and a Seeliger Elementary student will be singing a solo.
Watch the full address here, which will begin at 6 p.m.
CARSON CITY — Gov. Joe Lombardo will give his 2025 State of the State Address at 6 p.m. today in Nevada’s capital, where he will share his goals and priorities ahead of the upcoming legislative session.
“I look forward to sharing the progress my administration has made since my inaugural address, and I’m excited to outline my common-sense vision for our state ahead of the upcoming legislative session,” Lombardo said in a statement, highlighting efforts to keep taxes low, balance the state budget and bring investments to education and the workforce.
“As we look ahead, I’m eager to build on our progress in education, economic development, healthcare, housing, and public safety,” he said.
Every biennium, two weeks ahead of the legislative session, the governor delivers a State of the State Address that outlines his agenda and provides a framework for what lawmakers can expect over the course of the 120-day session.
In last November’s election, Lombardo successfully fended off a possible Democratic supermajority in both chambers that would have allowed Democrats to override any of his vetoes, greatly reducing his power. While Democrats still hold majorities in both the Assembly and Senate and can set their own agenda, any bill they pass must ultimately be signed into law by Lombardo, who is accustomed to wielding his veto power — having vetoed a record 75 bills in the 2023 session.
Ahead of the governor’s address, the Nevada State Democratic Party launched an ad titled “Expensive,” accusing Lombardo of raising costs for families due to his 2023 vetoes. The party pointed to housing bills that would have capped rent increases for seniors and would have established a new summary eviction procedure for tenants, as well as bills that would have guaranteed school meals to public school students and lowered the price of Medicare-negotiated prescription drugs.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com and McKenna Ross at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah and @mckenna_ross_ on X.
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