Venetian-style hotel set for Sands site at cost of $1.8 billion

Cathy Scott

Tuesday, Nov. 26, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Now that the Sands hotel-casino has been demolished, the groundwork is being laid to replace it with the "largest hotel in the world," company officials said.

A $1.8 billion Venetian-themed hotel-casino will break ground early next year, said Bill Weidner, president of Las Vegas Sands Inc., which owns the Sands property at Spring Mountain Road and Las Vegas Boulevard South. The Sands closed its doors June 30. The new resort is set to open in 1999.

"It was a terrific property in its day, but now it's time to move on," Weidner said. "We want to salute it, to show people from all over the world what has replaced it. It's being replaced with a jewel Las Vegas can be proud of."

The circular tower, built in 1952, was razed just after 2 a.m. today in preparation for construction of the mega-resort that will include 6,000 rooms -- larger than the 5,000-room MGM Grand. Still unnamed, the working title of the resort is the Grand Venetian, said Sheldon Adelson, president and owner of the property.

There will be two hotel towers, a beach resort, a clock tower, bridges over waterways and gondolas, "to pick up Venice and all of its icons and put them in Las Vegas," Adelson said. "We're Las Vegas-izing the whole concept of Venice."

The mega-resort will house 700-square-foot hotel suites, each equipped with a split-level living room, two TV sets, a minibar, a security safe and fax machine "in every room," Adelson said.

The property will include a 200,000-square-foot casino and a 750,000-square-foot shopping and dining mall. Five moving sidewalks will be installed at the front of the property.

A replica of Venice's Rialto Bridge in the design is a favorite of Adelson.

"There is a legend that if you kiss your mate on the bridge, your love will last forever," he said, noting that "hopefully, their love and luck will last forever in Las Vegas."

Increasing the Sands convention center size by one-third, to 1.6 million square feet, is also included on the drawing board, Adelson said.

"We think one of the tricks here in Las Vegas is we need something to keep it busy midweek," Adelson said. "A larger convention expo will do that. I think we'll be a leading property again. We hope to be very, very competitive."