[3] The first version of the Constanța Casino was built with a wood frame in 1880 and was named Cazin or Kursaal ("spa hall" in German).

[citation needed] The building's design utilized slopes to create two rounded, overlapping terraces with the purpose of providing a full view of the cliff, the sea, and the Constanța harbor from all angles.

[citation needed] In 1891, the wood-structured Cazinoul din Constanța was almost entirely destroyed by a storm, and on January 29, 1892, its demolition was approved.

Advertising himself as a chef, a skilled confectioner, and fluent in two commonly-spoken lingua franca of the time, he successfully secured the building's transfer to his care for 2,000 lei a year.

[citation needed] Romanian writer Petre Vulcan described his impressions of the Casino: "At first sight we were attracted by the party pavilion, whose mammoth feet rise from the waves, with a wrapped porch pushed over the sea.

"[citation needed] In 1903, local politicians agreed that it was time for the city of Constanța to have a modern casino, "...like those which inspired the French Riviera".

[3] Daniel Renard, then 32 years old and a graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, proposed to build an Art Nouveau structure, which stirred considerable controversy.

[5] Historical documents also show that electricity was installed by the Sociertatea Anonimă de Gaz of Budapest, and railings, gratings, and metalwork items were executed by the Wolf Factory in Bucharest.

[citation needed] The asphalt on the outer sidewalk and the iron grating, including three gates, were made by the M. Segal Company in Bucharest, costing 19,000 lei.

The city also purchased a piano from the Otto Harnisch Company in Bucharest and hired an orchestra of 18 people at a cost of 20,000 lei per season.

After the opening, on March 15, 1911, Mayor Titus Cănănău of Constanța leased the building for one year to Alphonse Heitz, owner of the Café de Paris restaurant in Bucharest.

For example, the travel journal of French diplomat George Oudard in 1935 mentioned the following: "One thing which is disappointing in this welcoming place: the white casino, pretentiously complicated, of the most dreadful and horrific style of 1900, which burdens the sea coast."

The casino did not escape the criticism of local media either, being characterized as a "Hulking heap strewn with all sorts of gewgaws and cheap fineries" by journalists in a March 1910 edition of the Conservatorul Constanței newspaper.

Journalists of the publication Drapelul in a December 1911 editorial criticized mayor Titus Cănănău for not doing more "to squander time and resources as to hinder the monstrosity."

The result was the Palace Hotel, inaugurated on July 13, 1914, with 250 rooms with baths, electrical lighting, heating, balconies, a world-class restaurant, and a rooftop terrace.

In the Great Hall, Emilian Gheorghiu's orchestra drew public attention through the perfect execution of classic and modern art pieces, especially the use of the cellos.

In the evening, after drinks and supper, the auditorium was transformed into a cinematographic projection room where large audiences would gather to view cinematic pieces.

"[7] In the autumn of 1916, when the bombings of Constanța began during World War I by the Germans, the casino building was transformed into a hospital and used by the Red Cross.

The nearby Port of Constanța was the primary target of the Germans, but the close proximity of the Casino left it inevitably affected.

[3] Images of the bombings of the Constanța shore, including the casino itself, can be found in the Imperial War Museum of the United Kingdom (IWM).

The casino was renovated by the government using political prisoners from the Poarta Albă camp, under deputy engineer Aurel Mărășescu.

At the end of July 1952, the building was reclaimed by the three colonels of the Securitate who were responsible for supervising the prisoners and the project: Albon, Cozmici, and Crăciun.