Oct. 20--It doesn't take a sleuth of Sherlock Holmes' caliber to discover that Laughlin's advantages, and its disadvantages, are elemental. 

That's elemental as in water, land and air. 

Six miles south of Lake Mohave, just south of Davis Dam, Laughlin occupies a thin stretch of turf on the west bank of the Colorado River, facing the northern outskirts of Bullhead City, Ariz. 

Pedestrians move back and forth between the city's casinos by walking on riverside paths or by spending a couple of bucks to make the jaunt in water taxis. 

The river distinguishes Laughlin from its barren surroundings, a ribbon of green and blue amid the dusty, dry landscape, but land and air issues cloud the future of the city and its nine casinos that rise above the Colorado. 

The city needs more land to build attractions, but the federal government owns the land. Bullhead City has a $25 million regional airport, but not many flights. 

Those concerns seem like minor inconveniences to Laughlin casino bosses, who for six years have heard industry experts predict that their market would be devastated by the growth of tribal casinos near its traditional feeder markets 

But Laughlin casino executives say their Colorado River-side town has weathered the worst of the threat from Arizona and California tribal casinos and emerged as a stable market with big advantages. 

It's no longer the boomtown of the late '80s, when the city opened more new casinos than did Las Vegas or Atlantic City, but it's also not a bust, the bosses said. 

Gaming revenue has stabilized after the growing power of tribal casinos near Laughlin's traditional feeder markets in Arizona and California caused a drop-off in the mid-'90s, and, with a little help from the federal government and the state of Nevada, business leaders believe the city's poised for an era of steady, if less spectacular, growth. 

"The Indians have taken a huge toll on Laughlin, but we're hanging in there," said Don Laughlin, the city's pioneer casino owner who gave the city its name. "We've also had to deal with the power crisis and high gas prices. I'm sure we'd have grown a lot more without the Indian casinos, but we have a nice market here." 

And the casino boss has a nice spot for his Riverside Resort at the entrance of Casino Drive, the road that runs parallel to the Colorado River and brings almost of all of the city's visitors, 4.5 million last year, to their Laughlin hotels. 

After the Riverside, in order, are: the Flamingo, Edgewater, Colorado Belle, Pioneer, Golden Nugget, River Palms and Harrah's. One hotel-casino, the Ramada Express, is on the west side of Casino Drive and has no river frontage. 

Nevada's lone tribal casino, the Avi, is a few miles south of Laughlin. 

Don Laughlin and his counterparts at the city's other casinos agree that the Colorado River is key to the city's existence and its future. 

"We are a resort destination along the Colorado River," said Susan Murphy, the Ramada Express's president and general manager. "Our No. 1 attraction is always the river. But our second advantage is that we offer a cluster of resort-style properties. It's easy to get around, and it makes for a relaxing two- or three-day getaway." 

Robby Chavez of San Bernadino, Calif., was maneuvering his sport utility vehicle and his boat around the Flamingo's parking lot on a sunny Sunday at the end of summer. 

"Can you imagine trying to jockey your boat around in Las Vegas, on the Strip?" Chavez asked. "That's why we like Laughlin. It's fun, it's close, but it's not Las Vegas." 

Chavez and his family visit Laughlin once or twice a year, combining daytime recreation on the river and lake with restaurants, entertainment and lots of slot play at night. 

"We spend about $500 for a weekend, but that's everything, including gas to drive here and gas for my boat," he said. "We probably drop $100 or $200 on the slots, but you never know. Maybe we'll hit it big tonight." 

Laughlin casinos won $545 million from gamblers in the fiscal year that ended June 30, down 1.4 percent from the prior year. The drop was smaller than the 3.7 percent statewide decline and the total amount won was $61 million more than the $484 million totals recorded in the bleakest years, fiscal 1997 and 1998. 

"This is a solid, repeat market, not a boom town," Murphy said. 

Murphy, Laughlin and other leaders hope state lawmakers will enact a law during next year's legislative session that would allow the city's casinos to join together under the umbrella of a special taxing district in order to fund a $65 million equestrian events center. 

Visitors would pay a $2 hotel room tax to fund the outdoor arena, which would be used to host rodeo events like the Laughlin River Stampede, the Bud Lite Cup and team-roping competition. 

"Laughlin needs to reinvent itself, but we can experience another boom," said Jo Elle Hurns, executive director of the Laughlin Chamber of Commerce. "Everyone's looking for a way to turn the corner. We need attractions and attractiveness in order to sell this story." 

Hurns said the city also needs to add trails, day camps and new recreational vehicle campgrounds along with boosting the number of boat-launch facilities on the river and at nearby Lake Mohave. 

"Laughlin's a wonderful place, but it has to continue to grow and change," Hurns said. 

She anticipates a San Antonio like riverwalk attraction that would help lure visitors. 

"Our biggest obstacle has been government," she said. "Laughlin contributes $52 million to the state in taxes, but the state only spends $14 million here. That's a $38 million net export to the state." 

Hurns said additional government-imposed challenges include: 

-- A temporarily postponed ban on Jet Skis and other personal watercraft at Lake Mohave by the National Park Service. 

--The lack of land to develop. About 90 percent of the 80-square-mile township is owned by the federal government, and Laughlin officials want the Bureau of Reclamation to let the town develop an additional 3,000 acres. 

-- A national security-related bypass of trucks around Hoover Dam and through Laughlin on U.S. Highway 95 and Nevada Route 163. 

"What is so infuriating are the constant challenges from government agencies," Hurns said, citing the condition of roads leading into Laughlin. 

"Every highway into Laughlin is in horrible shape," she said. "About 98 percent of our visitors arrive by automobile or RV, and there's one person dying each month on the stretch of U.S. (Highway) 95 between Laughlin and Las Vegas. The Nevada Department of Transportation has a six-year plan to expand the road to five lanes, but in a situation like this, with a national security problem, they should expedite the project." 

Even without the changes Laughlin leaders say they need to keep the economy vibrant, the destination attracts visitors in many of the same ways used by Strip resorts. 

Long holiday weekends usually mean higher room rates, as do the big rodeo events and the annual River Run, the spring motorcycle enthusiasts' rally that was marred last year by a gunbattle between outlaw biker gangs in Harrah's casino. 

Laughlin's room rates, however, are much lower than those found on the Strip, usually less than half of Las Vegas rates, although casino executives acknowledge the folly of dropping rates too low, particularly during the convection-oven heat of a Laughlin summer. 

"We're trying to get the focus off room rates and fighting for occupancy," Hurns said. "We've learned that when you lower room rates you get a cheaper customer. It's really hard to recover from that cycle." 

No new casinos have opened in a dozen years, but town officials hope Las Vegas real estate developer Nick Azouz can develop a 120-acre riverfront site he's trying to buy south of the current casino row. 

"We believe the (project) will be a shot in the arm for our community," Laughlin town manager Jackie Brady told the Review-Journal. 

-----To see more of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.lvrj.com. 

(c) 2002, Las Vegas Review-Journal. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. HET,