After a fire, the resort was completely redesigned and rebuilt by San Diego architect Frank W Stevenson ( Glen Abbey Memorial Park, Bush Egyptian Theatre, San Diego YMCA, Hotel Comercial in Tijuana, Colonial Hotel in La Jolla, etc). A silent partner who afforded them some protections was Colonel Aberlardo Rodriguez, former president of México and later governor of Sonora. Wirt G Bowman joined the group on Withington’s death, and later invested in building the Agua Caliente casino and resort. So three American investors, Marvin Allen, Frank Beyer and Carl Withington, formed their ABW Syndicate ( Owl Cafe, Monte Carlo, Tivoli Bar, Foreign Club, Jockey Club) to fully take advantage of Baja California’s licensing of gambling casinos, cabarets, saloons and prostitution. California’s ‘Red Light Abatement Act of 1913’ pretty much shut down prostitution in San Diego’s Stingaree District.

In the early 1900s, progressives were shutting down gambling and aiming for the prohibition of liquor. The compound was located on the corner of “Third and Main,” as American touristas referred to the streets back then, catty-corner from Mexicali Beer’s La Ballena bar and Alex and Paul’s Place/Original Caesar’s Place in the Hotel Comercial. The Foreign Club (1917-1936), was Tijuana’s most popular casino and nightclub for many years until eclipsed by the grandeur of Agua Caliente.

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