by 
Aria at CityCenter in Las Vegas on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2009.
photo Tiffany Brown
This is a re-post from The Las Vegas Sun.
By Richard N. Velotta (contact)
Published Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2009 | 8:51 a.m.
Updated Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009 | 12:04 a.m.
The countdown is over.
For months, MGM Mirage, the managing partner of the $8.5 billion CityCenter, has tantalized the public with a reminder of how many days it would be before Aria, the centerpiece of the development, would be “revealed to the world.”
Today, the wait wound down to the final 24 hours, 3½ years after the implosion of the Boardwalk hotel that once occupied a portion of the Strip frontage and five years after planning began.
Today, the wait wound down to the final 24 hours, 3½ years after the implosion of the Boardwalk hotel that once occupied a portion of the Strip frontage and five years after planning began.
Aria was busy Tuesday with last-minute touch-up work throughout the building while journalists and VIPs took guided tours showcasing room technology, CityCenter’s public art and water features and its signature entertainment offering, Cirque du Soleil’s “Viva Elvis.”
On Wednesday, activity was even more brisk and the company was graced with a warm, sunny day for the final push before the opening.
Photo: Reuters
In a midday opening ceremony, CityCenter executives CEO Jim Murren and President Bobby Baldwin applauded the efforts of the 12,000 CityCenter employees who will be working at the development and thanked representatives of the various development teams that had representatives in attendance read the rest of the story from the Las VegasSun