Mirage Hotel and Casino opening in 1989

On November 22, 1989, the Mirage Hotel and Casino opened its doors. The Mirage was the first new resort to be built on the Las Vegas Strip for more than 15 years, the last opening being the MGM Grand. When it opened, the $630 million Mirage was the largest hotel in the world with a 29-story tower offering 3,044 rooms.  the tower was the first to be designed in a Y shape, with other Strip resorts following that arrangement for a number of years after due to its good use of space. It also had a 1,500 seat showroom where Siegfried and Roy performed from just a few months later.  However, it was almost named the Golden Nugget, as a tribute to its sister property in downtown Las Vegas, below is an artists rendering from when that name was still a possibility.  Once the South Pacific theme of the resort was decided, though, then the name ‘the Mirage’ was finalized, with the main feature being the Polynesian volcanic island and surrounding lagoon with cascading waterfalls. Originally the volcano erupted with steam, fire and a light show every 15 minutes after dark.