Sunday, 18 May 2003
3:30pm

T

his is a special update for Vegas lovers who want to know what's going on in this great city that is always changing. This specific report will cover some changes that I have seen around the center strip area. I guess I'll start from the south and work north. You can click on most of these images to get a larger version.

The north end of the Flamingo is being torn apart and rebuilt to make way for Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, coming Fall 2003, according to the signs.

The historic old Caesars marquee sign is gone, and has been replaced by this giant new one with a high tech 16:9 video screen, showcasing Celine Dion's "A New Day" show.

The Forum Shops at Caesars is undergoing an expansion. The old entrance was in that blank white rectangle to the right of where you see this walkway going in. The whole platform and everything else that used to be out front there is gone, and as I understand it, the expansion is going to make it so that the Forum Shops actually reaches all the way to the Strip.

The little front room right on the street before you actually get into the real Imperial Palace casino has been converted into Tequila Joe's, which offers some drinks, plus a small dance floor inside, though I wouldn't quite call it a "club" just yet.

My favorite Denny's restaurant in the world, the one at Casino Royale has undergone a remodeling. It looks all clean and new now, and I don't know if it's just my imagination, but the patrons seem a bit cleaner now too, haha. It's still just as crowded and busy as ever, and unfortunately, they've done away with the bar seating where customers who were there alone often didn't have to wait to sit.

Also at Casino Royale, an Outback Steakhouse has opened on the second floor where Cafe Trilussa used to be. I'll miss the Trilussa for it's great breakfasts (and faster seating than the always-packed Denny's). On the other hand, I think Outback will offer better dinners than the old place did, and you can still get it comped through play at Casino Royale .

Right behind Casino Royale, the Venetian's hotel expansion is well under way, with a new tower being built right on top of the old parking structure.

This is kind of old news, but Treasure Island is planning to tear down the old skull marquee sign, and replace it with one that simple reads "T.I." This is part of an attempt at trying to make the resort more attractive to the younger MTV type crowd, and from what I hear, they're going to be sexing up the pirate battle show as well.

Construction of Le Reve, the new resort by Steve Wynn that is being built on top of the old Desert Inn property is proceeding at a brisk pace. The centerpiece of the property will be a 400 foot tall "mountain", and the resort itself is supposed to exceed the grandeur of Wynn's last big Vegas project, Bellagio. Apparently, Bellagio didn't live up to his original expectations, so Le Reve is going to be as great as he wanted Bellagio to originally be. Or something like that.

The Fashion Show Mall, directly across the street from the future Le Reve site is undergoing an expansion that includes this gigantic UFO football tower platform thingy. The expansion to the actual mall itself seems to be incorporating a whole lot of glass walls facing toward the Strip. With Le Reve right across the street, the Fashion Show Mall will be a serious competitor for the Forum Shops at Caesars.