LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Nipton, California.
Population — 25 ..... for now.
The tiny town on the edge of the Mojave Desert is getting ready for a facelift and its next chapter, thanks to Spiegelworld.
The Las Vegas-based company bought the town, which will become its global headquarters, for $2.5 million last January. Spiegelworld is behind hit shows like Absinthe, Atomic Saloon Saloon, and Discoshow.
"Having a rambunctious circus company purchase a small town may sound like the Schitt's Creek spin-off series but that couldn't be further from the truth," Spiegelworld founder Ross Mollison told us last year. "When we visited as guests a few years back, we fell in love with the peacefulness, the vast desert vistas, and the fireside chats with freight train drivers, miners, and workers."
Nipton was once a major cattle-loading station for nearby ranches and is home to the Hotel California, which was built in 1905. Silent film star Clara Bow was one of the many stars who visited over the years. She established the nearby Walking Box Ranch with her husband, Rex Bell.
Nipton is an ideal location since it's only about an hour from the Las Vegas Strip.
Since then, company officials have been busy laying the groundwork for future plans.
I caught up with Mollison to see how much work has gone into the project. The company is planning to invest at least $20 million in upgrades and repairs.
"Every aspect of the town needs to be rebuilt or renovated or restored," Mollison told me. "Every structure needs a new roof or needs a new floor or needs both or needs new windows. The town needs a lot of love and that's what we're slowly doing."
So far, Spiegelworld officials have fixed the town's water system, added more washing machines to the launderette, and bought a fire truck. Company officials have also cleaned up and removed over 250 tons of debris and trash from the desert.
"We're believers in the philosophy of plan slow and act fast. We've been planning and costing and working out exactly how to do it," Mollison explained. "We've nearly finished a full model of the whole town."
WEB EXTRA: Spiegelworld drone footage of Nipton
So what could the future circus town look like?
In addition to being the company's world headquarters, there will be places for artists to stay, practice, and develop new shows. Spiegelworld has already hosted several workshops with artists in Nipton.
"It's just become the heart and soul of our company. We're always out there working and dreaming of what the circus of the future looks like," Mollison said. "We've been working on our third show, which will be for Caesars New Orleans. That has been going well. We've developed new shows with them in Atlantic City, Las Vegas, and now New Orleans. You've got to keep innovating with a new style of show to present."
Spiegelworld is also working on tasty new creations in Nipton.
"We do a lot of our test kitchen operations out there, new ideas for restaurants and different cuisines that we want to try, and think of how that would sit with the market right now."
Mollison said Spiegelworld officials also want to add rooms to the existing hotel and find other hospitality venues that will be open to the public.
"We're working out our hospitality and accommodation offer. We're seeing an explosion in interest in accommodation in that part of California because mining in that part of the world is going crazy," Mollison said. "That's also influencing what our general food offer will be as more people come to live and work in the desert. We're about 12 months away from having our first part of the project open to the public."
However, don't expect to see things like huge malls or shopping centers come to Nipton.
"We're not building a cowboy town. We're not building a resort. We're not developers," Mollison said. "Nipton will showcase the beauty of our circus family and I simply can't wait to share that community under the magical desert stars."
And residents previously told Channel 13 that they're happy to have new neighbors.
"It's exciting to see what Ross and Spiegelworld have in mind for this town," longtime Nipton resident Jim Eslinger said. "I want to be part of it and help any way I can because, to me, this is paradise."
WEB EXTRA: Spiegelworld planting roots in Nipton, California
