[FEL-L] INSIDE GAMING Big cat habitat out burger joint in at Mirage

[BigCatSimba at aol.com]

INSIDE GAMING Big cat habitat out burger joint in at Mirage   
 
11-13-07 

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- The Mirage's white tiger habitat is giving way to an 
upscale burger joint. Siegfried & Roy's famous exotic animals, however, aren't 
vacating the Strip resort. 

MGM Mirage quietly closed the tiger habitat near the hotel's south entrance 
last week and announced that BLT Burger, a stylish hamburger restaurant from 
Chef Laurent Tourondel, will occupy the space by next spring. BLT Burger is 
advertised as having a hip and casual setting and a diverse menu, specializing in 
beef, Kobe, Lamb and Ahi tuna burgers. 

The tigers, who prowled the glass-enclosed home since The Mirage's opening in 
November 1989, can still be seen as part of Siegfried & Roy's Secret Garden 
and Dolphin Habitat at the resort. Rather than the free viewing near the 
entrance, the Secret Garden carries a charge of $15 for adults and $10 for children 
ages 4 to 12. 

"We thought we could make better use of the space by opening BLT Burger, and 
we wanted to encourage our guests to visit the Secret Garden," said MGM Mirage 
spokeswoman Jenn Michaels. 

Officials from the proposed Crown Las Vegas project, slated for the former 
Wet 'n Wild site on the Strip, held meetings with their potential neighbors from 
Turnberry Towers last week. Developers wanted to alleviate any concerns about 
the potential height of the 5,000-room resort's hotel tower, now proposed for 
142 stories. 

The Federal Aviation Administration is reviewing a request from Crown Las 
Vegas to reduce the planned height of the tower from the initial 1,888 feet to 
1,150 feet, one foot taller than the Stratosphere. 

Crown Las Vegas officials told Turnberry residents the project could be 
turned into shorter, dual hotel towers, depending upon the FAA's ruling. 

Does this count? 

In an interview last month on TheStripPodcast.com, disgraced baseball star 
Pete Rose said he would pay $100 to anyone who sees him gambling. 

Rose, the former Cincinnati Reds all-star who was banned from baseball for 
violating rules against wagering on baseball, will be at the Global Gaming Expo 
on Tuesday, appearing in the Kodiak Gaming booth. 

Last year, Kodiak Gaming, a Florida-based slot machine company that supplies 
American Indian casinos, announced that it had signed Rose to a licensing deal 
for a Pete Rose-themed slot machine. 

Voters in Maine rejected a referendum last week that would have allowed an 
American Indian tribe in the eastern part of the state to operate a racino. Penn 
National Gaming, which owns a slot machine parlor at a racetrack in Bangor, 
now has the state's lone casino. 

_http://www.casinocitytimes.com/news/article.cfm?contentID=169741_ 
(http://www.casinocitytimes.com/news/article.cfm?contentID=169741) 



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