A Step Too Far?

Is It Time To Stop Destroying Las Vegas’ Important Heritage?

Visitors to Dallas frequently tour the former Cabana Hotel at 899 Stemmons Freeway. ?

The 10 story, 300 room property opened in 1962 and has been determined eligible for The National Register of Historic Places by the Texas Historical Commission. The Cabana’s significance in wider architecture, history and popular culture is that it was the pre-cursor to developers, Jay Sarno and Stanley Mallin’s subsequent project, Las Vegas’ Caesars Palace, a global icon in Americana.

Unlike moves in Dallas to preserve their history, will we in Las Vegas, allow our most important building to disappear ignominiously?

Historical Interest

There is clearly growing interest in the evolution of Las Vegas and an increasing engagement from both tourists and locals alike in appreciating our relatively short history.

Founded in 1996, Las Vegas’ Neon Museum showcases signage and treasures from Las Vegas’ (literally as well as metaphorically) colorful past. Tours bring alive the personalities, history and stories of past properties to over 85,000 annual visitors.

A couple of blocks away stands the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, better known as The Mob Museum. The Museum was voted the top attraction in Las Vegas on Trip Advisor for 2021 and welcomes over 370,000 guests annually. February 2022 marks the 10th anniversary of opening.

After visiting the museums, visitors can grab a bite at Siegel’s 1941 at The El Cortez, celebrating the former part-owner of the casino and founder member of Murder Incorporated. Alternatively, head to Oscar’s Steakhouse at The Plaza for a Martini or two. The restaurant is a celebration of the life and career of former Mayor Goodman, who regales patrons with his tales of defending alleged mobsters from the ‘justice’ authorities followed by his time in public service. Photos of Mayor Goodman with multiple Presidents (from Clinton to Trump) offer validation that even the town’s most controversial characters have garnered a credible place in the current retrospective.

Even Downtown’s latest addition, Circa, has brought the neon icon, Vegas Vicky, indoors to a more salubrious setting than her previous perch overlooking Fremont Street. Upstairs, at Circa’s elevated Legacy Club, is home to portraits and bronze busts of hotel operators and developers that shaped Las Vegas, including Sarno, Kerkorian and Wynn.

For those averse to Downtown, Bugsy and Meyer’s at The Flamingo pays homage to the brawn and brains of that resort’s originators. Wynn’s Sinatra is inspired by the legendary entertainer that is synonymous with city, just as the ghost of Elvis Presley has an ethereal hold at Westgate, which was once the home of The King. Even at Resorts World, the latest Strip megaresort, artwork and design references The Stardust, the previous occupant of that site, that was imploded over a decade ago by then owners, Boyd Gaming.

At night, taxi lights punctuate the illuminated streets named after casino owners, entertainers and various resorts, evoking memories of what Las Vegas once was. Few would think that the town then was comparable to the current incarnation.

The Implosion Boom

Las Vegas had a population of 857,000 on October 1993, the date of the first meaningful Strip implosion, when the cannons at Steve Wynn’s Treasure Island took aim due south and boomed. Amid the pyrotechnic display that followed, the north tower of The Dunes crumbled in a fireball.

The Dunes was well past its sell-by date and the huge land parcel that it occupied is now home to The Bellagio, parts of Park MGM, New York New York, T-Mobile Arena, Vdara, Waldorf Astoria, Aria, Crystals and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. The economic case for implosion was clear.

Popular culture sees Howard Hughes’ Landmark shot down by the Martian invasion of 1996, however it was imploded a year before to nobody’s surprise. The property was in disrepair and an additional parking lot for the convention center illustrated the changing face of Las Vegas. The economic case for implosion was clear.

When Sheldon Adelson acquired The Sands, his intent was always to develop a world class resort to meet the ambitions for his convention led business. After 29 years, and many memories, arguably Las Vegas’ first architectural icon was imploded in November 1996. It had seen better days. The economic case for implosion was clear.

Having built over 8,000 rooms on the southern end of the Strip at The Luxor and Excalibur, Circus Circus Enterprises’ vision for the 556 room Hacienda was to be The Mandalay Bay, the flagship resort for the group. The hotel was mostly imploded a month after The Sands. The economic case for implosion was clear.

More implosions were to follow, as The Aladdin, Thunderbird/Silverbird version of The El Rancho, Desert Inn, Castaways, Boardwalk, Stardust (above), New Frontier all bit the dust between 1998 and 2007. ?The final legacy Strip property to be imploded was The Riviera in 2015, which made way for the new Convention Center that opened in the closing month of 2020. By this time the population of Las Vegas had grown to 2.7m.

Many of these properties were imploded to make way for new multi-billion-dollar projects, increasing room inventory or meeting the needs of the changing customer, particularly in the convention side of tourism. With the possible exception of the Desert Inn, which is where Wynn and Encore now stand, a consensus opinion is that all the imploded properties were no longer fit for purpose and there was a clear economic case for action. The Wynn is the outcome of a visible iterative process, with a clear linage in design and aesthetic evident.

However, the catalyst for change and the enabler for modern Las Vegas is the same; the arrival of The Mirage.

History Killers

Las Vegas band, The Killers, titled their 2020 album, “Imploding The Mirage”, a metaphor that I believe was to denote committing the ultimate sacrilegious act.

For students of the evolution of Las Vegas casino resorts, made clear in my past writing and teaching, the two most important properties to open in the history of Las Vegas are Caesars Palace and The Mirage. Each redefined the Las Vegas experience. For Caesars Palace read escapism and innovative design. For The Mirage see entertainment and customer experience, however the Mirage was more impactful due to the scale, ambition and the synthesis of operational excellence with near perfect design.

Even 33 years from opening, The Mirage does not look or feel her age. It runs at higher-than-average occupancy, employs a full workforce and generates strong profits and tax revenues. There is no economic case for implosion.

In research that is currently undergoing on customer behavior in the 2020s, The Mirage is only behind The Cosmopolitan on where the most loyal customers stay in Las Vegas.

It was announced recently that Hard Rock International is due to acquire operations of The Mirage from MGM. The initial plans see the Seminole owned group, strip the property to shell and core, remove the landscaping and features, including the demolition of Las Vegas’ iconic volcano to be replaced by a clone of Florida’s guitar shaped tower.

For those of us in development, there is excitement at the potential of Hard Rock’s return to market, but also sadness and alarm, as The Mirage is certainly not the prime target for Schumpeterian treatment, especially when there are several vacant parcels available.

A couple of years ago, Paul Steelman, possibly the premier casino architect in today’s market, told me, “Every day, I think about some experience, some design at The Mirage.... People today still refer to the project as a great standard to study and many are envious of how little it cost. The Mirage was the most incredible financial bargain in the worlds of business, building and Las Vegas.”

Led by Joel Bergman and Steve Wynn, The Mirage’s design team included luminaries, Paul Steelman, Scott Walls, Brad Friedmutter, Henry “Bud” Conversano, DeRuyter Butler, Roger Thomas and Don Brinkerhoff. This was the most accomplished group of professionals ever to work on a single hospitality project, in Las Vegas, The USA or globally, either before or after.

The UNLV has emerged as a first-class educational and research institute, teaching and exporting the lessons of successful casino development that we have gained over generations. Many of these learnings were codified for the first time in the development of The Mirage by executives such as Bobby Baldwin, Marc Schorr, Barry Shier, Bill Hornbuckle, Rob Oseland, Bill McBeath, Alan Feldman and notably Arte Nathan. Many of these executives have dominated the hospitality industry for decades - and will do so for years to come. The impact of Steve and Elaine Wynn will last for generations.

Without the Mirage there would be no Bellagio, no MGM, no Mandalay Bay, no Wynn, no Aria, no Cosmopolitan and certainly no modern Las Vegas, not to mention the impact on hospitality development across the globe.

Indeed, there is a strong case to suggest that The Mirage is Las Vegas’, if not the entire industry’s premier candidate to be recognized as the single structure most worthy of historical value and international preservation.

Is The Mirage’s importance to Las Vegas comparable to St Paul’s Cathedral in London, Sagrada Familia in Barcelona or The Chrysler Building in NYC?

In context, I would think so.

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In Dallas, as its architectural significance is finally realized, Sarno and Mallin’s Cabana is currently being restored as a luxury hotel, with many original features reimagined.

With a renewed interest in the history of Las Vegas, the growth of the city to be the premier global tourism destination and a major residential city, (for both of which The Mirage was the foundation) plus with a greater appreciation of the important narrative of the industry and recognition of those giants that were involved in the creative processes, it begs the obvious question, are there such economic benefits to justify the true loss of Las Vegas’ most important building of heritage?

I would suggest that Nevadans have one view and certain Floridians have another.

Oliver Lovat is a Fellow of The Royal Institution Of Chartered Surveyors, former visiting faculty at The University College of Estate Management and visiting faculty at Bayes Business School at City, University of London. He has spent over 25 years in real estate development, with a focus on hospitality assets.

A version of this essay first appeared in Casino, eSports and Technology Mgazine

For more information about The Mirage, read GGB Magazine Article on The Mirage at 30

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