Hard Rock to Replace Mirage Volcano with Guitar-Shaped Tower

Hard Rock International is set to acquire the Mirage resort on the Las Vegas Strip for $1.08 billion in cash. The resort, originally opened in 1989 at a cost of $620 million, will undergo significant changes under its new ownership. One of the most notable changes will be the replacement of the iconic volcano with a guitar-shaped tower, a design that Hard Rock International hopes will become as iconic in Las Vegas as it has in other locations.

The Mirage resort was sold to MGM Resorts in 2000 for $6.4 billion, including $2 billion in debt. The resort will be rebranded as Hard Rock Las Vegas, a nearly 80-acre center-Strip location that will welcome meetings, groups, tourists, and casino guests from around the world.

Hard Rock International, owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida, has big plans for the resort. The guitar-shaped tower, with its six light beams denoting the strings, is expected to stretch skyward and become a new landmark on the Las Vegas Strip. The same eye-catching design was incorporated in the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino resort in Hollywood, Florida, and the hope is that it will become just as iconic, if not more so, in Las Vegas.