Las Vegas based Boyd Gaming has announced a closure date for the Stardust Resort and Casino. Wednesday, 1 November 2006 is the planned day for the Stardust to cease operations and make way for Echelon Palace, a development on the Las Vegas Strip. Demolition of Stardust is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2007 and Echelon Place to open in mid-2010. Last month Boyd announced an agreement with AEG Live, the music and entertainment division of Anschutz Entertainment Group, for AEG to produce and present shows in the two major entertainment venues planned for Echelon Place.

AEG Live will operate a 4,000-seat production theatre and a 1,500 seat performance venue at Echelon. Bob Boughner, President of Boyd Gaming's Echelon Resorts, commented on the agreement, "Entertainment has played an integral role in the upscaling and continued evolution of Las Vegas as a leading vacation and convention destination. AEG is widely recognized as an innovator and leader in location-based entertainment. Their addition to the project advances our strategy of aligning with the premier companies and brands in each element of the Echelon experience."

Earlier this year Boyd Gaming was recognized by Forbes Magazine as being the best managed company in the category Hotels, Restaurants and Leisure. Echelon Place will offer 5,300 hotel rooms in an upscale resort where ‘purpose and escape, technology and landscaping, refined dining and heady nightlife’ converge. The Shangri-La Hotel Las Vegas will bring authentic Asian luxury hospitality, Delano Las Vegas will bring the vibrant, international energy of South Miami Beach, and Mondrian Las Vegas will revamp the Hollywood haven.

The Echelon Resort casino hotel will have a 2,600-room Resort Tower and a 700-suite Suite Tower, both with access to the Las Vegas ExpoCenter. There will be 140,000 sq ft of gaming floor, including poker room and sports book. A Retail Promenade will provide luxury and specialty shopping. The ‘Legendary Stardust’ with its 85,000 sq ft casino is making way for what has bee described as a next-generation resort development, Echelon Place. (E-09.06.06)

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