In a recent post I put up a shot of Wynn's new hotel/casino, and have received some comments on the building and the name. Wynn's has not opened for business yet, but the building the way it is has been built in about a year - that doesn't count all the planning and development and up front time. But it does show what money can build in a short time. Our new city justice center is less that a tenth this size, and took over two years to build. It was 'finished' two years ago, and the city has been suing the contractor ever since. People are just now starting to move in, and it is already looking like it will be overcrowded before they even officially open. That's a government job.
But this is private, and a casino. Original plans called for it to be named La Reve. For some reason the financial backers thought that having Steve Wynn's name would attract more people, and so it was changed. Rumor has it that the showroom inside, built to hold another Circ du Soleil show, will be named Reve. We'll see.
But, this is what I see going in to work in the morning.
This is looking east right at sunrise on a cloudy Monday (day before yesterday). It's on Desert Inn just before going over the I15 freeway. From the left is the Wynn, the TI (formerly known as Treasure Island), the Venetian and far right is the Mirage. (I think that's right, or else close). These buildings represent less than 20% of the rooms on the strip. As you can see, Wynn's looks to be the tallest and widest. The others are build as triangles or squares, Wynn's is one big flat plane, which dominates the skyline here. The low spot to the left of Wynn's is the Frontier, one of the older places on the strip.
Driving home at night westward on Desert Inn, just past the trolley station where I took the photo last week, is the Wynn from the east.
Also showing what I consider to be another symbol of Las Vegas, the ever present tall construction cranes.
Getting right up near it just before going underneath the Strip,
It really looks big, and this isn't even very close. Because of the design from the front it looks like the tallest, widest building on the strip.
Right across the strip is the Fashion Show Mall, and next to that is the smaller, older Frontier. Right behind the Frontier is where Donald Trump will be putting up his tower. So you can walk down the strip and have Wynn on one side and Trump on the other. Should be interesting. For now Trump's is only talk, in the planning stages. We'll see what he puts up.
Just to provide something different, here is the trolley station built right over Desert Inn, looking east, just past the Wynn and the Desert Inn golf course behind it.
As you can see, Nextel is the big sponsor. The dark rectangle to the left, just behind the red light, is one of those big TV display screens. It usually shows Nextel commercials, but for this shot ended up being dark. Right behind the station is the LV Convention Center, which also is built over Desert Inn. You can see part of it just under the trolley building in red brick. The stations look nice, even if the trolleys are not running yet.
My drive to work each day is about five miles. Takes between 10 and 25 minutes, depending on the lights. I usually leave home around 6:30 or so. Just passed the winter solstice, so I guess it will be staying light longer from here on in.
Due to be cold tonight, down around 31f, high around 52f. Not very warm, but nothing near Rochester NY where I went to school. Looks like the east is getting a nice white Christmas this year. Good for them.
That's it for today - no great news, no great shots, just raising Wynn's name, as he has done. Oh - at night, since the hotel is not open yet and the rooms are dark, the name Wynn is lit up in white - so you can see his name floating in the dark over the strip. Very dramatic. But my camera doesn't wok too well at night, so just imagine it.
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