LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Construction is well underway as the site of the former Mirage casino is continuing to transform into Hard Rock Las Vegas.
Frank Cassella, the Senior Vice President of Finance for HR Las Vegas LLC, told the Nevada Gaming Control Board that work has been non-stop since the property closed its doors in July.
"For the several months after we closed, and quite honestly still now, there's quite a bit of post-closure activities that took place, whether it had to do with liquidation of the property, getting everything cleaned out," Cassell said. "We accepted chips at Treasure Island for 120 days. We dealt with that. We're still accepting TO tickets. We had our closing audit from the Gaming Control Board. We're undergoing a year-end audit now with Deloitte."
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According to Cassella, construction is "progressing very positively".
"Right now, it's a full construction zone," Cassella said. "Most of the work is still in its demolition phase. You can see the volcano has been demolished and torn out and if you drive by, you can see that more of the front drive is a construction zone."
He added that some of the pilings, or supports, for the new guitar tower have also gone up.
"[It's] going to be over 700 feet tall, 650 suites. It's going to be a full redesign of the 3,000-room Mirage tower, full redesign of the casino, a redesign of the pool. There will be an additional pool for the guitar tower," Cassella said. "We're looking forward to that."
As for how casino executives are preparing from an operational standpoint, Cassella said they are "slowly shifting to pre-opening efforts."
"We're meeting with the departments to develop organizational charts for the opening," Cassella explained. "Staffing compendiums. Compendiums for purchasing, task compendiums, and so forth."
Cassella told the board that everything is still on budget and on time, with the goal of opening the new resort in 2027.
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