The iconic Mirage in Las Vegas is closing after 34 years

New York
CNN
 — 

The Mirage Lodge and On line casino on the Las Vegas Strip, and its immediately recognizable volcano, is quickly shutting down after greater than three a long time in enterprise.

The three,000-room resort will stop operations on July 17 because it undergoes a three-year renovation that wipes away any markings of the Mirage and its tropical theme.

Opened in 1989 by on line casino mogul Steve Wynn, the Mirage ushered in a period of luxe resorts for the Strip and was the primary resort to have a sidewalk attraction with its volcano, prompting the Bellagio and Venetian to mimic the Mirage with its dancing fountains and canals, respectively.

“We stay up for the start of an thrilling journey into a brand new period as Laborious Rock Las Vegas will ignite the Strip with leisure, innovation and world-class hospitality,” the Mirage mentioned on its Fb account, which has been flooded with recollections within the feedback.

Along with the volcano, the Mirage was additionally dwelling to different quintessential Las Vegas options just like the Siegfried and Roy’s white tigers present and a Cirque du Soleil present set to Beatles music.

The resort will reopen in 2027 as Laborious Rock Las Vegas, with a hovering 700-foot-tall resort tower within the form of a guitar, much like its Florida property, with the volcano being destroyed to create space for brand new rooms.

MGM Resorts purchased the Mirage from Wynn in 2000 and bought it in 2022 for greater than $1 billion to Laborious Rock Worldwide. It’s the second time Laborious Rock could have a presence in Las Vegas, with the model beforehand proudly owning the now-Virgin Lodge off the Strip.

Greater than 3,000 Mirage staff might be laid off starting in July. The Laborious Rock mentioned it is going to pay greater than $80 million in severance. The Culinary Staff Union, which represents about half of the Mirage’s staff, mentioned in an announcement that affected staff will get $2,000 for every year of employment with the choice of returning when the resort reopens.

Mirage friends which have reservations past July 14 might be cancelled and refunds issued. As for on line casino chips, additionally they must be utilized by that date on the Mirage however might be redeemed at neighboring Treasure Island for one more 120 days following the resort’s closing.