“Metaphorically, each time new buildings were opened, it felt like a new roller coaster opening at a theme park. “Talk about Barnum & Bailey stuff,” Bernhard said. A theme park, MGM Grand Adventures, was a dud - but it helped make clear that while Las Vegas could cater to families, its sweet spot was still going to be entertainment for adults.īernhard recalls coming home from college at Harvard in 1993 and seeing the parade of new attractions the new Las Vegas had to offer.

Not every idea was a winner, but failings provided direction for the future. MGM Grand also was the launching point of the Las Vegas Monorail as an alternative mass-transit system along the east side of the Strip. “In so many ways, everything that happened in Las Vegas in the last 25 years has happened at the MGM, whether that was trying to create a world-class, celebrity-chef, high-end food experience to creating entertainment amenities that are quite different from the gaming floor to creating mega-convention centers to creating arenas that in turn feed everything,” said Bo Bernhard, executive director of the International Gaming Institute at UNLV.

It also was one of the first to bring residential property to the Strip and gave the company the confidence to go forward with the Cit圜enter complex, which includes the Waldorf Astoria, Crystals, Aria, Vdara and Veer Towers.Ī dedicated three-story convention facility brought business travelers to the MGM Grand and inspired a greater interest in attracting conventions. Its Studio 54 sparked nightclub development in the city. It opened the Strip’s first large arena for sporting events and concerts, and a row of restaurants that established the arrival of celebrity chefs. Richard Brian Las Vegas Review-Journal the MGM Grand opened 25 years ago Tuesday, it was the largest hotel in the world and launched an era of growth that forever changed Southern Nevada.

MGM Grand on the Strip in Las Vegas on Saturday, Dec.

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