The Mirage casino, which ushered in an era of megaresorts on the Las Vegas Strip in the 1990s, is closing

LAS VEGAS – The iconic Mirage hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip will close its doors this summer after more than 30 years, the end of an era for a property credited with helping transform Sin City into an ultra-luxury resort destination.

The July 17 closing will pave the way for major renovations and construction at the 80-acre (32-hectare) property, which will reopen in 2027 as Hard Rock Las Vegas, featuring a guitar-shaped hotel tower rising nearly 700 feet (about 210 meters) above the heart of the Strip.

“We would like to thank the Las Vegas community and team members for their warm welcome to Hard Rock after enjoying 34 years at The Mirage,” Jim Allen, president of Hard Rock International, said Wednesday in a statement announcing the closure.

It will be the second time this year that a casino on the Strip has closed. The Tropicana Las Vegas closed in April after 67 years to make way for a $1.5 billion baseball stadium planned as the future home of the Oakland A’s.

Developed by former casino mogul Steve Wynn, the Mirage opened with a tropical theme as the Strip’s first megaresort in 1989, spurring a construction boom on the famous avenue during the 1990s. The name was intended to highlight the hotel as an oasis in the desert.

Its volcanic fountain was one of the first sidewalk attractions, predating the Venetian canals and the dancing fountains of the Bellagio.

The Mirage was Siegfried’s longtime home & Roy, who began performing there in 1990 and has consistently drawn sold-out crowds, wowing millions with his magic tricks in six shows a week, 44 weeks a year.

The show ended in 2003 after Roy Horn was attacked on stage and seriously injured by one of the act’s white tigers. The duo’s “Secret Garden,” an outdoor exhibit showcasing big cats and other exotic animals, closed in 2022.

The hotel also hosted a popular Cirque du Soleil show set to the Beatles soundtrack, which brought together Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr for public appearances during an 18-year run. Your final curtain will arrive in July.

Hard Rock International said Wednesday that more than 3,000 employees will be laid off and expects to pay $80 million in severance.

The Culinary Workers Union, which has represented about 1,700 employees at the Mirage since it opened, said in a statement that the contract it won last year guarantees that laid-off workers will receive $2,000 for each year of service. The contract also gives them the option to be called back to work and maintain their seniority when the hotel reopens.

“The Culinary Union will continue to ensure workers are protected and focused on the future of the property,” the statement said.

The Mirage became the first Strip property to be managed by a Native American tribe in 2022, after Hard Rock International, which is owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida, purchased it from MGM Resorts in an all-cash deal worth nearly U.S. $1.1 billion.

Hard Rock said at the time that the property would remain open and operate under the Mirage brand for several years while it finalized renovation plans.

The Mirage is not accepting reservations after July 14th and has said that all reservations after that date will be canceled and refunded.