LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – A beloved Las Vegas Strip staple closed for good Wednesday morning after 35 years.
As The Mirage begins its transition into the Hard Rock, employees who had worked for the hotel-casino since opening day in 1989 talked with FOX5 about the poignance of the day.
“It’s very, very emotional to see it go,” said Bonnie Wheeler, who’s worked at the Mirage Sportsbook since it opened. “So many memories, and it’s just been fantastic. That’s why I stayed so long.”
“It’s very sad, touching, heartbreaking,” said Kathie Averett, who started the same day as Wheeler at the sportsbook and retired four years ago.
A closing ceremony was held in front of the atrium Wednesday morning, with former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones Blackhurst among several speaking about the impact of The Mirage.
“The Mirage changed everything,” she said. “We didn’t realize how grown up, how magnificent, how visionary we could be. And Steve and Elaine, they changed all of that.”
Elaine Wynn, who co-founded The Mirage along with her husband Steve, reminded the crowd gathered in front that closing iconic properties is part of the cycle of life here.
“This is what we do in Las Vegas,” she said. “We reinvest, we refresh, and we keep Las Vegas as one of the most exciting cities in the entire world for that.”
Wynn and others kept it light during closing ceremonies.
“We don’t let our buildings get too old – we just let the bosses get too old,” she joked, later talking about the features she and Steve Wynn added to the resort. “Magical gardens and exploding volcanoes, and dolphins in the backyard, which by the way, he really wanted to put in our home, and I explained to him, ‘Steve, I don’t know a thing about dolphins.’”
Jones Blackhurst recalled the first time she was there.
“I have the dress I wore to the opening of the Mirage. I almost brought it,” she said, eliciting laughter from the crowd. “I remember seeing Siegfried and Roy and then going to their house after the show, where Roy was swimming in the pool with the tigers.”
When the resort opened, Wheeler would take time to see the brand-new volcano whenever she could.
“I used to walk out here on my lunches and see how beautiful it was, and then I would go home and tell my husband, ‘Can you make me a little waterfall?’” she said, laughing.
Now, on the last day the volcano erupted, Wheeler and Averett said their final goodbyes to the place they made so many memories and friends.
“I will remember The Mirage the way it always has been,” Averett said in response to a question about how she’ll feel seeing a guitar-shaped hotel in place of the volcano.
“It’s a lifetime of emotions, but I’m just trying to look forward knowing that I’ll always have all these memories to cherish,” Wheeler said. “I’ll miss the building, but I’ll still see everybody.”
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