Peppermill’s EDGEy new look

The Peppermill Reno unveiled its redesign of the EDGE nightclub during a March 3 event that also featured an insiders look at the casino remodel and a presentation by the videographer responsible for the panoramic videos seen on giant screens throughout the property.

The remodels coincide with the 45th anniversary of the casino resort.

The new look for the EDGE is described as “1920s style meets 2020 technology.”

“The EDGE is going on eight years old. In nightlife years that’s like 104,” Julie Jeffers, Peppermill assistant director of nightlife, said of the reasoning behind the remodel.

The remodel includes $150,000 in lighting; 440 square feet of LED panels; three 13-watt RBG lasers (stadium concerts typically use 10-watt lasers); 12 new 55-inch flat screen TVS; Parasol Star 600 for visual effects; more than 68 moving lights; custom-made damask wallpaper, and handcrafted crystal chandeliers.

Original artwork from local artists celebrates the style of 1920s Hollywood nightlife.

The new theatrical marquee entrance was created as a central art piece designed in-house by Mike Cowan, an artist as well as the Peppermill’s director of advertising.

“The EDGE has always tried to take a more artistic approach to a nightclub,” Jeffers said.

A press release descibes it this way: “A dramatic, almost theatrical look, bucks the current trend in nightlife of “big room Vegas” with a more intimate nightlife experience. A striking entry way welcomes you in to our ultra lounge and just beyond, the main nightclub and dance floor.”

The remodel of the casino floor itself takes a different approach.

For decades, casino-floor décor has featured an explosion of color and neon. The Peppermill has replaced that frenetic look with a classic elegance that’s pronounced in before and after photos.

Adding to the resort’s unique ambiance are giant-screen TVs that feature high-definition film clips showing both panoramas and intimate looks at nature, animals, and travel destinations throughout the world.

“It’s an architectural feature like no other,” said lead photographer Joe Ness.

The Peppermill has invested millions of dollars over the past decade to send a film crew to produce the feature.

Ness and his crew have been to all seven continents, hundreds of countries, and taken more than 50,000 shots, he said.

“I’m the guy that has the best job in the world,” Ness said during the media event. “On a daily basis, guys ask me if they can carry my luggage — or even hide in my luggage.”

The resort is now adding wall art photographs to its decore, and pitching a television series called “Window on the World,” to major television networks.

A lot has changed since the Peppermill opened in 1971. Bill Paganetti and Nat Carasali opened the Peppermill as an upscale coffee shop with a fireside lounge that was an innovation at the time. Albert and Tom Seeno joined them as partners in the business in 1979. A year later the Peppermill opened a casino and a small hotel.

Today, the resort covers more than two million square feet, featuring 1,635 rooms and suites, two pools, nine restaurants, and 16 bars and lounges.

In the coming weeks, the Peppermill will continue its remodel with a new look for the Oceano restaurant, including giant screens with videos of the undersea environment by Ness and his crew.

Other projects this year include replacement of all carpets on the casino floor, exterior painting and continuation of a major initiative in 2014 to install energy-recovery ventilators and improve internal air quality throughout the property.