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Boundaries The Strip runs from the Stratosphere at the northern end to Mandalay Bay on the southern end. Of the 4 miles, nearly 3.5 miles of it is located in the township of Paradise, Clark County. Depending on the definition, very little to none of it is within the Las Vegas city limits. McCarran Airport (LAS) is located at the southern end of The Strip, along with the famous Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign, which also appears in the median of Las Vegas Boulevard at the north end near the intersection of E. St. Louis and S. Main Street. The "South Strip" is used to describe the section of Las Vegas Boulevard between Sunset Road or Blue Diamond Road and St. Rose Parkway. History The first casino to be built on Highway 91 was the Pair-o-Dice Club in 1931; the first on what is today's Strip was the El Rancho Vegas, opening on April 3, 1941 with 63 rooms and standing for almost 20 years before being destroyed by fire in 1960. Its success spawned a second hotel on what would become The Strip, the Hotel Last Frontier, in 1942. The Flamingo opened a few years later, on December 26, 1946. In 1968, Kirk Kerkorian purchased the Flamingo and hired Sahara Hotels Vice President Alex Shoofey as President. Alex Shoofey brought along 33 of Sahara's top executives. The Flamingo was used to train future employees of the International Hotel, which was under construction. Opening in 1969, the International Hotel with 1,512 rooms, would become the largest hotel in the world, and begin the era of mega-resorts. The International is known as the Las Vegas Hilton today. The first MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, also a Kerkorian property, opened in 1973 with 2,084 rooms. At the time, this was the largest hotel in the world by number of rooms. On November 21, 1980, the MGM Grand suffered the worst resort fire in the history of Las Vegas, killing 87 people as a result of electrical problems. It reopened eight months later. In 1986, Kerkorian sold the MGM Grand to Bally Manufacturing and it was renamed Bally's. The opening of The Mirage in 1989 set a new level to the Las Vegas experience, as smaller hotels and casinos made way for the larger mega-resorts. These huge facilities offer entertainment and dining options, as well as gambling and lodging. This change impacted the smaller, well-known and now historic hotels and casinos, like The Dunes and The Sands. In 1995, following the death of Dean Martin, the lights along the strip were dimmed in a sign of respect to him. In 2005, Las Vegas renamed Industrial Road "Dean Martin Drive", also as a tribute to the famous Rat Pack singer, actor, and frequent Las Vegas entertainer. In an effort to attract families, resorts offered more attractions geared toward youth, but had limited success. The (current) MGM Grand opened in 1993 with Grand Adventures amusement park, but it closed in 2000 due to lack of interest. Similarly, in 2003 Treasure Island closed its own video arcade and abandoned the previous pirate theme, adopting the new ti name. Downtown Las Vegas hotels and casinos suffered heavily from the Strip's boom. They have funneled money into remodeling the facades of casinos, adding additional security and new attractions, like the Fremont Street Experience and Neonopolis (complete with movie theaters). In addition to the large hotels, casinos and resorts, The Strip is home to a few smaller casinos, motels, and other attractions, such as M&M World, Adventuredome and the Fashion Show Mall. Starting in the mid 1990s, The Strip became a popular New Year's Eve celebration destination. Wet and Wild water park, located next to the Sahara hotel, closed permanently at the end of the 2004 season. In 2004, MGM_MIRAGE announced plans for Project City Center, a 66 acre (600,000 m²), $7 billion multi-use project on the site of the Boardwalk hotel and adjoining land. It will consist of hotel, casino, condo, retail and other uses on the site. When completed, City Center will be the largest such complex on Earth. Construction began in April of 2006, and the first elements of this project are expected to be available in 2009. Transportation
Free Shuttles
Walking around Compared to major roadways in other cities, the Las Vegas Strip is becoming pedestrian-friendly. New casinos design their facades to attract walk-up customers and many of these entrances have become attractions themselves - the Fountains at Bellagio, the volcano at The Mirage, and the Treasure Island (TI) Sirens of TI are the most well-known. People gather on the sidewalks in front of the casinos to watch these shows. To alleviate traffic issues at popular intersections, footbridges have been installed to help pedestrians more safely cross the roads. The Tropicana - Las Vegas Boulevard footbridges were the first to be installed, and based on the success of this project additional footbridges have been built on Las Vegas Boulevard at the Flamingo Road intersection; between The Mirage/Treasure Island and The Venetian; and the latest ones at the Las Vegas Boulevard-Spring Mountain and Sands Avenue intersection connecting the Wynn with the Fashion Show Mall. Golf courses In recent years, all but one of the on-Strip golf courses (the Desert Inn Golf Course) have fallen prey to the mega-resorts need for land and have closed. Developer Steve Wynn, founder of previously owned Mirage Resorts, purchased the Desert Inn and golf course for his new company Wynn Resorts. In 2005, he opened Wynn Las Vegas, complete with remodeled golf course providing tee times to hotel guests only. In 2000, Bali Hai Golf Club, opened just south of Mandalay Bay and the Strip. Catering to a high-end golf enthusiast, the Bali Hai Golf Course can easily be seen by drivers on I-15. Demolished Strip hotels Major Hotel Locations
Shopping attractions Also see Sources | ||||||||||||||||
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