MGM Grand Hotel encyclopedia topics

Hotel and casinos

MGM Grand Las Vegas, the current MGM Grand on the Las Vegas Strip
MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, the first MGM Grand in Vegas.
MGM Grand Detroit resort opened October 1, 2007 as the first casino resort in a major metropolitan core.
The Grand Sierra Resort was once called the MGM Grand Reno before it was sold in 1986.
MGM Grand Darwin was sold and is now the SKYCITY Darwin.
MGM Grand Atlantic City, the future MGM Grand in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
MGM Grand Macau in Macau.

Companies

MGM Grand Inc. was the name of one of the corporations that merged to create the MGM Mirage corporation
Champion Air (also called MGM Grand Champion Air) was the former MGM Grand in-house airline

Events

MGM Grand Hotel Las Vegas hotel fire was a major disaster that occurred at the original hotel in 1980.
MGM opens Billion dollar casino/resort in Downtown Detroit as a part of the rebirth of the city.MGM Grand "takes great pride in being part of the new Detroit "

Music

MGM Grand Single, a 2000 rock single

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Wikipedia

This article is about the first MGM Grand in Las Vegas. See MGM Grand Las Vegas for the current hotel and casino.

The MGM Grand Hotel and Casino was a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip at the intersection with Flamingo Road. Built on a 43 acre (17 hectare) site, by Kirk Kerkorian, the hotel with 2,084 rooms opened on December 5, 1973 and was the largest hotel in the world at that time.

History

The site was first occupied by the Bonanza Hotel and Casino. It was later renamed the New Bonanza Hotel and Casino shortly before construction on the MGM Grand began.

The MGM Grand opened as one of Las Vegas's first megaresorts on December 5, 1973. It was the largest hotel in the world at its opening and would remain so for several years. When the hotel was built, it set a new standard of size and luxury in Las Vegas, and is considered to have made the biggest impact on Las Vegas until the construction of Steve Wynn's Mirage Hotel in the late 1980s.

The hotel had a movie theme to reflect Kirk Kerkorian's interest in movies from his ownership of MGM and the hotels use of MGM in its name. The hotel was designed by architect Martin Stern, Jr. It featured many amenities, including numerous entertainment options. It offered live Jai Alai for betting and a large shopping arcade with numerous shops and restaurants.

It was also one of the strip's most popular entertainment destinations. It featured two large theaters: The Zeigfield Stage and the Celebrity Room. The Zeigfield regularly featured productions by famed Las Vegas choreographer Donn Arden including the long running Jubilee! and Hallelujah Hollywood. The Celebrity Room hosted such acts as The Carpenters and Barry Manilow.

1980 Fire

It suffered a fire that started in a casino restaurant and traveled up into the hotel, killing 87 guests on November 21, 1980. It was rebuilt in only eight months with the remodel adding a tower which opened in 1981. The tower had been in construction at the time of the fire, but was unscathed by the fire. The fire made such an impact on hotel safety that it led to the implementation of fire safety improvements worldwide.

The hotel was sold in 1986 to Bally Entertainment Corporation and reopened as Bally's Las Vegas.

Film history

In 1985, the MGM Grand was the setting for the fictional boxing match between Apollo Creed and Ivan Drago for the movie Rocky IV. Even more films have since been set at Bally's Las Vegas.