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Vegas Retold

The history of MGM Grand Las Vegas

Opened December 18, 1993

Green MGM Grand hotel towers and their rooftop name in 2018, with a separate Showcase parking garage in front.
MGM Grand’s green towers on April 22, 2018, behind the separate Showcase parking structure.

Alexander Migl / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

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Original source photograph retained without editorial alteration. Responsive displays may resize and crop the presentation.

MGM Grand Las Vegas opened on December 18, 1993, returning Kirk Kerkorian’s MGM name to the Strip on a different site from his original resort. The first MGM Grand, opened in 1973, had become Bally’s and is now Horseshoe. The green South Strip hotel is a separate property; the 1980 fire belongs to the earlier MGM’s history.

The earlier Marina site

The new project brought together the former Marina hotel site and the Tropicana Country Club grounds behind it. Marina had closed in November 1990. At the October 1991 groundbreaking, contemporary reporting described a large hotel and movie-oriented theme park, with the existing Marina building to be renovated into the complex. Later hotel accounts confirm that part of the earlier structure was incorporated. This was a much larger new resort with some older fabric retained.

A changing movie theme

The resort’s early identity joined movie fantasy to casino scale. Emerald City theming and a large lion entrance formed part of its first incarnation. Within a few years, MGM began reshaping that presentation. The company’s 1998 annual report records the removal of Emerald City and the old lion entrance, with a remodeled entertainment casino, a new entry and a bronze lion replacing those features.

Conventions and recreation

The same redevelopment changed how the grounds were used. A conference center opened in April 1998 and a new pool complex followed in July. The annual report connects those projects with the removal of some theme-park assets. It is a record of a resort shifting its balance among gaming, entertainment, conventions and recreation, rather than remaining fixed in its opening-day form.

Renewing the rooms

Rooms have also been repeatedly renewed. MGM’s January 2025 announcement identifies a completed 2022 renovation of Studio Tower and announces another major main-tower remodel. The announced December 2025 deadline was a forecast; it should not be confused with evidence of the precise day all work finished.

MGM Grand and its historical photograph

The operator’s 2026 fact sheet continues to identify MGM Grand as an operating hotel-casino at 3799 South Las Vegas Boulevard, with the Grand Garden Arena and KÀ among its entertainment facilities. The historical photograph shows its green towers in April 2018. Showcase’s parking structure stands in the foreground: that neighboring structure is not another MGM hotel tower.

  1. The operating MGM Grand in 2026

  2. Two different MGM Grand properties

  3. The 1991 groundbreaking and retained Marina building

  4. Closure before the new project

  5. The earlier hotel incorporated into MGM Grand

  6. The 1996–98 transformation

  7. Completed Studio Tower work and a later announced remodel

  8. The current MGM building area

  9. The MGM towers and neighboring parking structure in 2018

What remains uncertain

  • The original 1973 MGM Grand is today’s Horseshoe, a different property and site.
  • Part of Marina’s hotel was retained in the 1993 development; this was not a rename of the whole Marina into an otherwise unchanged resort.
  • Announced construction deadlines are not treated as verified actual completion dates.
  • The historical photograph dates from April 22, 2018. The foreground Showcase garage is a separate neighboring structure.

This site through time

Replaced Marina Hotel and Casino

1993

Marina, briefly called MGM Marina, closed in November 1990. The MGM Grand development replaced its independent resort operation and also used the neighboring Tropicana Country Club grounds, opening in December 1993. Part of Marina’s hotel structure was renovated and incorporated into the new complex. This was a larger successor resort with partial building reuse, rather than a simple rename or complete demolition of every earlier building.

Historical source — Wiley Las Vegas hotel guide excerpt, PDF page 75 / printed page 106, confirms that part of MGM Marina was incorporated into MGM Grand. UPI’s March 5, 1991 report places closure in November 1990; its October 7, 1991 groundbreaking report describes the planned renovation of the retained hotel. MGM’s 2026 fact sheet gives December 18, 1993 as the new resort’s opening. Both property histories list the source links and limits of the available evidence.

  • The new development occupied a larger site than Marina alone. Partial retention is not the same as a complete demolition or a rename of the entire resort.
  • The relationship is dated to the successor’s 1993 opening year; closure and construction occurred earlier.
  • Marina is separate from San Remo/Hooters/OYO, and this MGM Grand is separate from the original 1973 MGM, now Horseshoe.
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