Nearly 35 years after opening, the Mirage faded away this morning, closing its doors and vanishing from the Las Vegas Strip. In a few years time, the property will reemerge as the Hard Rock Hotel, with a 660-foot guitar-shaped tower replacing the volcano that spewed fire and water nightly for three decades.

In the days leading up to the Mirage’s final hours, scores of locals and tourists made final visits to the property, clogging the sidewalks to watch the hourly volcano eruption; catching the final run of the Cirque du Soleil Beatles-themed show, Love; visiting the Heritage Steakhouse; and hoping to win some of the more than $1.6 million that state law required the casino to give away before closing. Between the promised winnings, hourly drawings, and limited operational slot machines, the resort had a frenzied final week, with eager gamblers flooding the casino floor and camping out on machines.

Leinani Shak Photography

Costing $630 million when it opened in 1989, the Mirage helped usher in a new era for Las Vegas, one of luxury and mega-resorts. Its volcano predated the Fountains of Bellagio and its headlining Siegfried & Roy show became synonymous with Vegas itself. It later became a destination for the expansive aquarium tank behind the registration desk and for the Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat, where visitors could observe dolphins and big cats.

In late 2022, Hard Rock International took over ownership and operations of the Mirage, with plans to turn the property into the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and Guitar Hotel Las Vegas. The Mirage is the second Strip casino to close this year — joining the Tropicana Las Vegas, which closed in April after 67 years to make room for a $1.5 billion baseball stadium. Unlike the Tropicana, the Mirage will not be entirely demolished. Rather, the hotel will be completely remodeled and rebranded, with the volcano space gutted to make way for the guitar tower.

Hard Rock Café International

The Mirage closure means losing Heritage Steakhouse — which initially opened as a celebrity chef joint with Tom Colicchio — Osteria Costa, Otoro, Diablo’s Cantina, Pantry, Paradise Cafe, California Pizza Kitchen, and the Still.

More than 3,000 employees have been laid off. “We are planning to host collaborative hiring events with other employers in the Las Vegas community over the coming months,” Joe Lupo, president of the Mirage said in a news release. Hard Rock plans to pay approximately $80 million in severance packages. The Culinary and Bartenders Unions — which have represented about 1,700 hospitality workers since the casino opened — say that contract protections ensure workers can receive $2,000 for every year of service and maintain seniority rights when the hotel reopens as the Hard Rock.

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

The Mirage joins the likes of other iconic casinos of yesteryear, like the Stardust and Showboat — casinos that were once integral to the Las Vegas Strip, since torn down to make way for something new. But, true to its reputation for reinvention, Las Vegas will usher in something newer and shinier when the larger-than-life guitar lands on Las Vegas Boulevard in 2027.

Janna Karel