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The site was first occupied by the Bonanza Hotel and Casino which opened in July 1963. It was later renamed to the New Bonanza Hotel and Casino shortly before construction on the MGM Grand began.
The 43 ac (174 km²) site opened in 1973 as the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino with 2,084 rooms, the largest hotel in the world at that time. Kirk Kerkorian was the owner. The hotel had a movie theme when it opened. This is not the same hotel as the current MGM Grand.
It suffered a fire in the casino that traveled up into the hotel, killing 87 guests on November 21, 1980, it was rebuilt in only eight months.
The hotel was later sold in 1985 to Bally Entertainment Corporation and the name changed to Bally's.
Hilton Hotels purchased Bally Entertainment in 1996. Hilton's casinos were subsequently spun off into Park Place Entertainment, which purchased Caesars World in 2000 and changed its name to Caesars Entertainment in 2004. Harrah's Entertainment announced, in 2004, plans to take over Caeser's Entertainment. Harrah's completed the takeover of Caesars Entertainment on June 13, 2005.
At the end of June 2005, Harrah's Entertainment CEO Gary Loveman announced that the company will consolidate all their brand names under the following: Harrah's, Rio, Caesars, and Horseshoe. This implies that Bally's could be redeveloped or re-branded in the future.
(cf : Wikipedia) |
