Sep. 6--The president of Caesars Palace announced Wednesday that he had quit the job he held since March to "pursue personal opportunities," according to a spokeswoman for the megaresort's parent company, Park Place Entertainment. 

The immediate departure of John Shigley makes him the third top executive of a Park Place casino property to leave his job since the July 10 appointment of Wally Barr as the company's new chief operating officer. 

Company spokeswoman Debbie Munch declined to discuss specific reasons for the moves, but she did say there were no links among the departures. 

"Each was a separate matter, and the timing was pure coincidence," Munch said. "They're not reflective of any fundamental change in our game plan." 

Park Place executives also announced Wednesday that John Groom, a longtime executive of Caesars Palace and Caesars Tahoe, has been named to the newly created position of senior vice president of Park Place Entertainment and will serve as interim president of Caesars Palace, while a search is conducted for Shigley's replacement. 

Groom most recently worked as the chief executive officer of Players International and oversaw the company's $425 million purchase last year by Harrah's Entertainment. He will now lead the development of the Caesars brand name. 

Barr was appointed as the company's COO after sharing the post with Mark Dodson, a job the two were given following the October death of Park Place Chief Executive Officer Arthur Goldberg. 

The company's new president and chief executive officer, Tom Gallagher, chose the 55-year-old Barr for the position, in what he characterized at the time as a difficult decision. The 39-year-old Dodson left the company to foster corporate unity, Gallagher previously said. 

On July 17, Mike Caryl left his post as vice president and general manager at Caesars Tahoe. On Aug. 21, Rhett Long left his job as general manager of the Reno Hilton. 

Munch was careful to say Wednesday that the two "left" their jobs, and she would not or could not clarify whether they quit or were fired, saying the company does not publicly discuss personnel matters. Gallagher was unavailable for comment Wednesday evening. 

Shigley quit seven months after replacing Dean Harrold in the top job at Caesars. The 44-year-old Shigley has worked 15 years in the casino industry, and spent 13 years at Caesars and Park Place in a variety of roles. 

He was in charge of what could eventually become a $550 million renovation and expansion of the Strip megaresort, which is adding a 900-unit, all-suites hotel and a 4,000-seat theater in the style of the Roman Colosseum. 

The moves are designed to replace much of the luster that was lost at Caesars during the mid- to late-1990s when it had three separate owners before being purchased by Park Place in 1999. At the same time, Bellagio, The Venetian, MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay grabbed much of Caesars' traditional high-end customer base. 

"Caesars was always on the cutting edge of what they did," Shigley said in a June interview. "Everything was exciting, and nobody used to compete. We're going to leapfrog everybody else now." 

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