By Jeanne Brei
The Las Vegas Strip is seeing some big changes in the coming year. Caesars Entertainment announced in January that they plan to rebrand their Bally’s Casino into their Horseshoe brand complete with a renovated interior, new entertainment, new restaurants and bars (including Blake Shelton’s Ole Red) and a reimagined casino floor this spring. Meanwhile, Bally’s Corporation wants to change the Tropicana Las Vegas Casino’s name to Bally’s later this year as well. And, on a side note, Caesars converted the Lumiere Palace Casino & Hotel in Saint Louis into Horseshoe Saint Louis in February this year.
The Fontainebleau Las Vegas (pictured left), a project that has gone through several owners since construction began in 2007 just north of the LVCC’s West Hall on the Strip, continues its slow journey to a late-2023 opening with its original name. Original developer Jeffrey Soffer, owner of Fontainebleau Development, reacquired the project (which had been renamed The Drew) in February 2021 in partnership with the real estate wing of Kansas conglomerate Koch Industries.
The Strip also has the pending rebrand of the Mirage into a Hard Rock—which is currently slated to demolish the famed Mirage Volcano—and remodel the hotel into the shape of an upright guitar. After selling the Mirage to Hard Rock and by acquiring the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, MGM Resorts now controls all of the gaming (operating seven resorts) along a two-mile stretch of the west side of the Las Vegas Strip between Flamingo and Russel roads.
Two NBA-ready arena projects are also underway in Vegas while a possible stadium site for the Oakland Athletics has been whittled down to just two (still secret) locations.
Before the lockdowns, the SLS Las Vegas returned to being called the Sahara, the Stratosphere changed its name to The Strat, Hooters became Oyo, the Hard Rock Hotel became Virgin Hotels, the Monte Carlo Hotel became the Park MGM, and the Mandarin Oriental at CityCenter became the Waldorf Astoria.
Keeping their old names but changing ownership, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians bought the Palms Casino (which reopened April 27) for $650 million and Caesars sold the Rio Hotel to Dreamscape for $516 million in 2019 but will operate it through Dec. 2023.
Change.org Petition to Save Mirage Volcano Attraction Gains Steam
A Change.org petition has been started to save the Mirage volcano attraction and has been signed by more than 6,000 people. The petition reads in part:
“The Mirage was the first “megaresort” ever to appear in Las Vegas, and on its opening day in November 1989 it was the most expensive resort ever built. From day one the The Volcano has been delighting The Mirage’s visitors to what is an increasingly rare and totally awesome free Vegas attraction and highly emotional experience. Moreover, it’s located on the most visible piece of land on the Las Vegas Strip! Frankly, it should be a historical landmark.”
EDPA Las Vegas Golf Outing
The EDPA Las Vegas chapter working with the EDPA Foundation is hosting its 19th annual Las Vegas Scholarship Golf Classic on Thursday, June 9 at the Las Vegas National Golf Course (on Desert Inn Road between Maryland Parkway and Eastern—just a couple of miles east of the LVCC).
The event will include golf, goody bags, door prizes, breakfast prior to the 7:30 a.m. shotgun start and an awards luncheon immediately following the tournament. Prizes will be raffled off throughout the event. For sponsorship information, contact msunseri@dslgroup.com and to register for the event, visit www.edpalv.com/education-scholarship-golf-classic.
