How Did A Volcano End Up on the Las Vegas Strip?

Speculating on the future of casino design in the city in the aftermath of The Mirage Hotel & Casino’s November 1989 opening, the Las Vegas Review-Journal speculated: “One of the emerging ways to replace [the star policy entertainment of Las Vegas] is to make the facility itself a part of the entertainment. That’s why Steve Wynn built a volcano outside The Mirage.” From the very opening of The Mirage Hotel & Casino, the property’s volcano attraction served as its visual calling card and quickly became one of the property’s most beloved attractions. Standing 54-feet tall, the volcano “erupted” regularly multiple times per night in a spectacular fashion. Its original iteration was designed and fabricated by Lifescapes, Inc. of Newport Beach, California, who was also responsible for The Mirage Hotel & Casino’s foliage, waterfalls, and lagoons. The volcano’s nightly eruptions were regularly viewed by hundreds of onlookers in front of the property and were frequently cited as the cause of countless traffic jams from drivers who wanted to peek for themselves. Ambulance driver Bill Shope, in a 1990 interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, summed up the scale of disruption caused by the volcano by stating: “God help you if you drive by The Mirage when the volcano goes off.”

The Mirage Hotel & Casino’s volcano attraction underwent multiple renovations and upgrades during its 35 years in operation. Sound was added in 1991, despite objections from nearby property owners who were concerned about disruptions to the sleep quality of their guests staying in rooms within earshot of the volcano. Smoke and fog were added in May 1996, further emphasizing the attraction’s mystique. The largest renovation, however, occurred intermittently from August 2005 through December 2008, in which the volcano attraction was completely reimagined by WET Designs, who had previously created the dancing fountains at the Bellagio Hotel & Casino. This $25 million upgrade included reskinning the volcano attraction’s exterior, adding taller fireballs and more realistic lava effects, and a new musical accompaniment from musician Zakir Hussain and Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart. The operations of the volcano attraction were overseen by a team of eight engineers and technicians, each of whom were responsible for ensuring smooth operations of the 152 “FireShooters,” monitoring wind conditions, balancing the lagoon’s pH levels, and any other challenges that might have arisen over the show’s six-minute runtime.

When Hard Rock International first announced their plans to acquire The Mirage Hotel & Casino in December 2021, they simultaneously announced that this acquisition would include the closure and demolition of the property’s volcano attraction. Public outcry was immediate. Over 2,000 concerned citizens signed a petition to save the property’s volcano, making headlines around the country. That enthusiasm from fans of the attraction carried through to the volcano’s final eruption on July 16, 2024. Demolition on the volcano attraction and surrounding lagoon began immediately the following day. Reflecting on the closure of the property and the demise of its volcano, Alan Feldman of UNLV’s International Gaming Institute stated: “The volcano really symbolized the new Las Vegas in 1989, and all through the ’90s… It was the symbol of Las Vegas turning a corner and becoming something much more than gambling, and becoming really much more than Sin City.”