Several gaming analysts said if Boyd Gaming hadn’t stopped Echelon, the company would have fallen into bankruptcy.īoyd planned to restart Echelon within a year, but the economy was slow to rebound.Ĭlark County commissioners gave Boyd Gaming a six-year extension to complete the development by 2018. The Stardust closed in November 2006 and was imploded four months later to make way for Echelon, which had a formal groundbreaking in June 2007.īoyd stopped the project’s construction 14 months later in August 2008 when credit markets soured.īoyd Gaming executives were celebrated by local political leaders and Wall Street analysts for making the gutsy move to halt development after spending close to $1.5 billion on construction. That property is still under Caesars’ control and is now known as The Cromwell. The largest acquisition was 27 acres from Harrah’s Entertainment, a predecessor to Caesars Entertainment Corp., in exchange for what was then the Barbary Coast in October 2006. While most of the Echelon site was once home to the Stardust, Boyd had purchased several adjacent parcels to increase the acreage.

The project included 300,000 square feet of retail, 750,000 square feet of convention and meeting space, 30 restaurants and two theaters. It planned a massive $4.8 billion complex, a match to the south Strip Cit圜enter project then being built by what is now MGM Resorts International.īoyd called the project Echelon Place, later shortened to just Echelon.īoyd’s original concept for Echelon was five hotels of varying sizes totaling 5,000 rooms and suites, all connected to a 140,000-square-foot casino. Under Boyd’s stewardship, the hotel grew to 1,500 rooms.īut Boyd had bigger plans for what then was considered a prime Strip location. being its last one, taking possession in 1985. Over the years, the Stardust had several owners with Boyd Gaming Corp. The Stardust opened with just over 1,000 hotel rooms in 1958 - at the time the world’s largest hotel.Īnthony Cornero Stralla, a Southern California bootlegger who never received a casino license from Nevada regulators, got the Stardust going by selling shares in the company in the 1950s. Entertainers Wayne Newton, Don Rickles, Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, Siegfried & Roy and Steve & Eydie are just some of many stars who performed in Stardust showrooms.

Thursday, Resorts World Las Vegas will start a new chapter when it opens its doors on land once home to the storied Stardust and its famed Lido de Paris show featuring topless showgirls. The long, twisting saga of the redevelopment of 88 north Strip acres is reaching an end.

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