Postcard - Greetings from Las Vegas - MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV, Strip - circa 1975
The 43 acres site was first occupied by the Three Coins Motel, which opened in 1963. The Bonanza Hotel and Casino opened on the site in July 1967. It was later renamed the New Bonanza Hotel and Casino in 1973 shortly before construction of the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, owned by Kirk Kerkorian, began.
The MGM Grand opened on December 5, 1973 with 2,084 rooms for the then-staggering cost of $106m and was the largest hotel in the world at that time as one of Las Vegas's first megaresorts. Dean Martin was the entertainer on opening night. When the hotel was built, it set a new standard of size and luxury in Las Vegas, and is considered to have made the biggest impact on Las Vegas until the construction of Steve Wynn's Mirage Hotel in the late 1980s.
The hotel had a movie theme to reflect Kirk Kerkorian's interest in movies from his ownership of MGM and the hotel's use of MGM in its name. It was also one of the Strip's most popular entertainment destinations. It featured two large theaters: The Ziegfeld Stage and the Celebrity Room. The Ziegfeld regularly featured productions by famed Las Vegas choreographer Donn Arden including the long running Jubilee! and Hallelujah Hollywood. Sergio Franchi was the first entertainer signed to star in the Celebrity Room (three-year contract starting February 1974). Franchi's frequent co-star was comedian Joan Rivers. The Celebrity Room also hosted such acts as The Carpenters and Barry Manilow. The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast shows were filmed at the hotel.
On November 21, 1980 the MGM Grand suffered a fire that started in a casino restaurant and traveled up into the hotel, killing 87 guests and employees. The Grand was rebuilt in only eight months, and remodeling added a tower which opened in 1981. The fire made such an impact on hotel safety that it led to the implementation of fire safety improvements worldwide.
The hotel was sold in 1986 to Bally Manufacturing for $594m, and the property's name was changed to Bally's (the MGM Grand name was transferred to the former Marina Hotel, now known as MGM Grand Las Vegas). Bally Entertainment was purchased in 1995 by Hilton Hotels Corporation.
On April 17, 1997, ground was broken on a sister property, Paris Las Vegas. In September 1999, the new resort was opened and tightly integrated with Bally's property by a promenade. For many years, the two resorts operated under a single gaming license.
Hilton's casino resorts division was subsequently spun off and became Caesars Entertainment, Inc. in 2003. The hotel's North tower was renovated in 2004. Harrah's Entertainment (now Caesars Entertainment Corporation) acquired the property with its purchase of Caesars in June 2005.
-From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Postcard - Greetings from Las Vegas - MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV, Strip - circa 1975
The 43 acres site was first occupied by the Three Coins Motel, which opened in 1963. The Bonanza Hotel and Casino opened on the site in July 1967. It was later renamed the New Bonanza Hotel and Casino in 1973 shortly before construction of the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, owned by Kirk Kerkorian, began.
The MGM Grand opened on December 5, 1973 with 2,084 rooms for the then-staggering cost of $106m and was the largest hotel in the world at that time as one of Las Vegas's first megaresorts. Dean Martin was the entertainer on opening night. When the hotel was built, it set a new standard of size and luxury in Las Vegas, and is considered to have made the biggest impact on Las Vegas until the construction of Steve Wynn's Mirage Hotel in the late 1980s.
The hotel had a movie theme to reflect Kirk Kerkorian's interest in movies from his ownership of MGM and the hotel's use of MGM in its name. It was also one of the Strip's most popular entertainment destinations. It featured two large theaters: The Ziegfeld Stage and the Celebrity Room. The Ziegfeld regularly featured productions by famed Las Vegas choreographer Donn Arden including the long running Jubilee! and Hallelujah Hollywood. Sergio Franchi was the first entertainer signed to star in the Celebrity Room (three-year contract starting February 1974). Franchi's frequent co-star was comedian Joan Rivers. The Celebrity Room also hosted such acts as The Carpenters and Barry Manilow. The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast shows were filmed at the hotel.
On November 21, 1980 the MGM Grand suffered a fire that started in a casino restaurant and traveled up into the hotel, killing 87 guests and employees. The Grand was rebuilt in only eight months, and remodeling added a tower which opened in 1981. The fire made such an impact on hotel safety that it led to the implementation of fire safety improvements worldwide.
The hotel was sold in 1986 to Bally Manufacturing for $594m, and the property's name was changed to Bally's (the MGM Grand name was transferred to the former Marina Hotel, now known as MGM Grand Las Vegas). Bally Entertainment was purchased in 1995 by Hilton Hotels Corporation.
On April 17, 1997, ground was broken on a sister property, Paris Las Vegas. In September 1999, the new resort was opened and tightly integrated with Bally's property by a promenade. For many years, the two resorts operated under a single gaming license.
Hilton's casino resorts division was subsequently spun off and became Caesars Entertainment, Inc. in 2003. The hotel's North tower was renovated in 2004. Harrah's Entertainment (now Caesars Entertainment Corporation) acquired the property with its purchase of Caesars in June 2005.
-From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.