Built by Steve Wynn’s Golden Nugget Corp. at an unprecedented cost of $620 million, Mirage was the first new resort added to Streep’s skyline in more than 15 years.
But while the city was still recovering from the economic downturn of the early 1980s, many financial experts didn’t think the Mirage would succeed. About $565 million of the construction costs were raised in junk bonds. Analysts said the Mirage will have to make more than $1 million a day just to cover its costs.
Some people wondered if The Mirage could really grow the market. Most people expected it to just steal customers from neighboring hotel-casino. 온라인경마
A familiar sound?
In retrospect, the same question was being asked about the $8.5 billion development of a large city center, which will open next month. The same was said about Mirage.
David G. Schwartz, director of the Center for Game Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said there are two opinions about Mirage: It will fail miserably, or if successful, it will shut down all other strip casinos.
“The ’80s wasn’t an easy decade for Las Vegas,” Schwartz said. “Casino was starting to pursue a family-friendly market, and more people were paying $100 per trip, so Circus Enterprise was the most profitable casino company on the strip.”
In 1986, Wynn announced plans to build a luxury resort on 110 acres of land he built next to Caesars Palace.
“At the time, there was serious doubt about the future of Las Vegas, let alone seeing casinos make $1 million a day,” Schwartz said.
Today, The Mirage is 20 years old. This might not seem like a major milestone, but consider it. Mirage represents the beginning of a 20-year architectural boom that changed the scope and face of the strip.
When Mirage opened at noon on a sunny Wednesday in 1989, the 30-story white hotel tower with gold accents and a tropical island theme was considered the most luxurious and glamorous resort in the city.
Over the next two decades, hotel casinos such as Excalibur, MGM Grand, Monte Carlo, New York-New York, Luxor, Venice, Paris, Mandalay Bay, Bellagio, Win Las Vegas, Palacho and Encore emerged, many overshadowing The Mirage’s dominance in the luxury market.
Analysts and gaming experts believe a 20-year construction frenzy will come to an end next month with the opening of CityCenter, the largest privately funded construction project ever built in the United States.
“It’s hard to compete with Velazios and Winx,” Sibela said. “But when it comes to second-tier properties, I think we’re at the top of that level.”
MGM Mirage, the owner of the casino, has spent more than $100 million over the past few years remodeling The Mirage’s casino floors, installing new restaurants, adding new lounges, and refurbishing 2,700 of the accommodation’s 3,000 hotel rooms.
Last year, MGM Mirage spent $25 million to destroy and rebuild the hotel’s 54-foot volcano, adding new music and additional flame technology to its features. When Mirage first opened, a volcanic eruption stopped traffic on the strip while drivers were watching the display.
“The volcano was the last piece of the puzzle,” Sibela said. “We still have a lot of high-end customers and middle customers. We changed our properties to fit all the demographics. We have things for the younger generation, but we make sure they don’t disturb loyal customers who have always been fans of Mirage.”
Mirage will open a tattoo parlor next year next to a Jet nightclub near the hotel’s northern entrance. “You have to make this type of change to stay competitive,” Sibela said. “The property is still making a lot of money compared to properties that aren’t investing in themselves and are now being pushed aside.”
When it opened in 1989, The Mirage was the first strip resort thought to be more than just a hotel casino.
Before the opening, media attention focused on The Miraza’s traditional amenities, including a 100-foot-tall glass-domed atrium that houses tropical trees and plants, and an artificially fire-breathing volcano.
Wynn lured fantasists Siegfried and Roy to “Mirage” with a multi-year $50 million contract and a commitment to build a 1,500-seat, $30 million exhibition hall.
The resort had a glass-walled habitat near the southern entrance for guests to see Siegfried and Roy’s white tigers. A 20,000-gallon aquarium containing sharks and 80 tropical fish was located behind the front desk. Plans for a living dolphin habitat to accommodate bottlenose dolphins were also announced. In 1996, Siegfried and Roy’s secret garden was added to accommodate the celebrities’ animals.
A mirage seemed more like a strange dream than a hotel casino. For Steve Wynn, that was the idea.