Two Way Hard Three | Las Vegas Casino & Design Blog

November 29, 2006 12:07 PM Posted by dr_al

Wouldn't this be on hold pending all the buyout activity?

November 29, 2006 12:08 PM Posted by Hunter

It appears not. This was put to the Clark County Planning Commission this past week so Harrah's is trying to move forward on this.

November 29, 2006 1:55 PM Posted by mike_ch

Merry Christmas! Caesars was becoming so tired having gone almost a full year without any massive construction project. The anthem of jackhammer and electric saw noise shall return at last!

November 29, 2006 3:23 PM Posted by Brian Fey

Nice. CP is a mess now, its been added on to, time after time, its just a disaster already. Looks like they'll be making it worse now!

November 29, 2006 5:04 PM Posted by charlie

Call this heresy, but they really need to original 2 towers (centurion & ??), they are really awful. Forum tower is ok, at least it has the Rain Man Suite(s). If the 3 best towers with 3000+ nice rooms ("A") are separated by the swath of old crap that separates them from the Forum Casino and Forum Shops ("B"), they have really created a bi-polar resort. IF, they had the balls to knock down the 2 original towers (and Forum Tower & casino), with all of the land in front of the hotel, they could build a very massively large hotel between the Palace, Augustus, & "New" Towers ("A") and the Forum Shops ("B"), if they could get people from A to B.

It would be kind-of cool if CP had 7000+ rooms.

November 29, 2006 7:08 PM Posted by Mike E

Charlie, they could call it Project CityPalace.

Shame that they hardly ever used that space. I always thought the Brahma shrine in front was kind of neat. Hardly anybody ever knew about it.

November 30, 2006 9:33 AM Posted by Craig

All Hail Caesar (and his concrete jungle). That place is such a maze.
I actually like the bar area at the "roman forum". A nice open space to people watch, take a break, and have a cocktail (or four). It seems they could still salvage the area; turn it into a Carnival Court style area; definately get rid of the bleacher monstrosity; add shops, fountains,etc. But no, let's demo everything and start over.

November 30, 2006 10:09 AM Posted by mikeynla

This is the kind of thing that is really pissing me off about the "new" Las Vegas... As Caesars is now, I think it's pretty asthetically pleasing. The fountains in front of the (old) main entrance are awesome in that old-school Vegas way. And the new Market Place makes the whole complex look like something other than just a huge mess of towers. Harrah's may think it a waste of space, but it's a great space when it's warm (read: much of the year!) Taking out the Market Place and putting in yet another tower will just make Caesars look like another Project City Place, but with some Roman columns thrown in for show.

November 30, 2006 10:34 AM Posted by Andy

First off, thanks for the great site, very informative!

Saw this redevelopment on Vegastodayandtomorrow.com, and they have incluced the original fountains outside the hotel for redevelopment as well, which suprised me a litte.

Charlie, I agree they should build the new tower over the smaller older towers.

Does anybody know how the new Roman Forum development will be joined to the existing hotel? Do you guys think Harrahs will make it fit in with the rest of the resort?

On a different note, does anyone know what other changes will be made to the Mirage when the new volcano goes in? For example will the dolphin statues, strip wlkway, the gates you drive through and the covered area outside reception where the taxis are, all be given their marching orders? Are there any more changes happening inside the hotel?

Cheers!

November 30, 2006 10:43 AM Posted by Hunter

Regarding The Mirage, the front features may be getting a dusting off and some new paint but the elements you reference should be staying.

One change that was rumored but at this point isn't scheduled was a new, all suite tower in the spot where the Secret Garden is now.

Inside the hotel they are continually upgrading fixtures and the like plus, of course, Revolution is coming soon.

November 30, 2006 2:52 PM Posted by Dave

Back to CP: in my humble opinion, redeveloping the plaza area is good, provided it's done right. But scrapping the central fountains would, I think, be a huge mistake. They were a vital part of Jay Sarno's original vision for the project, and, since everything else has been covered with faux columns, the only really "genuine" thing about the exterior now.

Like Charlie, I think that the oldest towers are could be put to better use--what I'd love to see is the central area imploded and rebuilt in the style of Sarno's original, but on a modern scale--sort of like what he would have done if he had the money (or there was the demand back in 1966). For me, this means a giant oval casino (picture the orignal casino space, enlarged) and plenty of water features throughout the property, with soft curves and ovals reflected in every aspect of design.

I don't know if this could be done without closing the entire property--it'd be a big job--but this would give Harrah's, or whoever owns the casino in ten years, a really striking property. Imagine what it would look like if it combined Sarno's design ideas with the view of Rome seen in the HBO series--a vital, colorful, and decadent city. This would be an absolute must-see.

And while they're at it, they should bring back the original logo--I don't know if you can find it online, but it's all over the old stationery. It shows the cartoon Caesar/Sarno reclining on a couch and being fed grapes--funny, and fun in a way that the centurion profile just isn't.

November 30, 2006 4:51 PM Posted by John

I agree with your comments, in some ways. Caesars Palace needs to renovate or demo the two original towers, the Roman and the Centurion. I believe I heard Caesar's President/COO stating that he was pushing for more of a down to the frame renovation, which I would believe as something along the lines of completely removing all the drywall, etc., down to the bare essentials. Then, I would assume they would try to create new rooms that would fit those offered in he Palace or Augustus Towers. This would be the sort of renovation that might close one of the towers themselves down, but it wouldn't completely shut down the property. So, in that matter I would expect Harrah's to move forward with something like that.

Now, that is something I would also like to see happening at the Mirage. However, I would rather see management at the Mirage close down three or floors at a time. This could more effectively turn the Mirage, into an upper echelon resort destination, but that is another matter entirely.

Getting back to CP, I would rather see Caesars logo stay in its current form, especially with their current "Ocean's Eleven" marketing campaign (i.e.- The Hero, etc.).