A decade of changes on the Las Vegas Strip
The 2010s marked the end of an era for longtime landmarks and the dawn of a new age on the Las Vegas Strip.
Iconic structures that survived for half a century came down in gloriously destructive fashion, while new projects filled the gaps and provided a face-lift to the Southern Nevada. A few tweaks here and there altered the skyline in a big way — and more changes are on the horizon.
It began in 2010 with the opening of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, with accented lighting on its two towers providing a touch of color to the middle of the skyline. That next year, the Sahara closed after surviving on the Strip since 1952. The property was closed in 2013 to make way for a new resort on the same land, SLS Las Vegas, which would open in 2014.
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As it would later turn out, the property’s reign and the Sahara’s end on the Strip would each be short lived. But we’ll get back to that.
In 2014, the Las Vegas skyline got rounder with the addition of the 550-foot tall High Roller Ferris wheel outside of The Linq Hotel, which offered a different view of a familiar setting.
Another Strip icon closed in 2015, when the Riviera shut its doors for good. The property that had occupied Las Vegas Boulevard since 1955 was demolished the following year.
The latter half of the decade represented the Strip’s arrival as a professional sports destination with the opening of T-Mobile Arena in 2016. The arena hosts concerts and the city’s first major sports team, the Vegas Golden Knights, who played their first home game on Oct. 10, 2017.
Just days prior, on Oct. 1, the Strip became the site of the deadliest shooting in modern American history when a gunman opened fire from Mandalay Bay on a country music festival across the street.
In 2018, the Monte Carlo rebranded as Park MGM.
The decade closed in 2019 with the future home of the Raiders, Allegiant Stadium, beginning to take shape across from Mandalay Bay. SLS Las Vegas was sold to new ownership and rebranded in August as Sahara Las Vegas, proving that some things never really change.
What will the 2020s bring to the Strip? Only time will tell.
Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter.
