The Venetian Opens (1999)

About

Sheldon Adelson came to the casino business from trade shows. His COMDEX computer show, held in Las Vegas from 1979, became the city's largest trade show, with 125,000 attendees in 1988. That year his Interface Group bought the ageing Sands from Kirk Kerkorian for $128 million. Adelson built the Sands Expo Center beside it, a convention hall of about 1.2 million square feet, and in 1995 sold COMDEX to Softbank for $860 million, which helped him raise money for something much bigger.

In 1996 Adelson closed and imploded the Sands, the old home of the Rat Pack, and began building a Venice-themed resort, named for the Italian city where he and his second wife had vacationed. The first phase was budgeted at about $1.5 billion, with a 35-story tower of 3,036 rooms, all designed as suites, a 113,000-square-foot casino, half a million square feet of shops and detailed replicas of the Doge's Palace, the Rialto Bridge and the Campanile.

The Venetian opened in May 1999, before all of its rooms and shops were ready. Adelson sued the builder, the builder countersued and subcontractors complained of unpaid bills, and Adelson also kept the Culinary Union from organizing his workers. The lawsuits were eventually settled, and the second phase, a tower of another 3,000-plus suites, opened in 2002. Adelson later built the Palazzo next door and took his company, Las Vegas Sands, into Macau and Singapore.

The Online Nevada Encyclopedia argues that the Venetian changed how Strip casinos make money. The Sands Expo drew conventioneers midweek; Adelson charged $250 a night for rooms and brought in celebrity chefs; and other resorts followed. For the first time, the encyclopedia says, Strip revenue from rooms, food and retail outearned the casinos.

What to expect

The Venetian Resort offers gondola rides on an indoor route along its Grand Canal, under bridges and past the Shoppes, and a seasonal, weather-permitting outdoor ride facing the Strip, with singing gondoliers. Tickets can be bought online up to 60 days ahead; same-day tickets are sold in person only. Check the resort's site for current prices and hours.

More from the 1990s

• The Luxor Pyramid Opens (1993)
• Bellagio and Its Fountains (1998)
• The Dunes Implosion (1993)
• The Stratosphere Opens (1996)

Before and after

• Wynn Las Vegas Opens (2005)

Good to know

• Nothing of the Sands survives on the site; the Online Nevada Encyclopedia says the Venetian left virtually no trace of it.
• Adelson's company bought the Sands in 1988 for $128 million, according to the Online Nevada Encyclopedia.
• The resort opened before all its rooms, shops and services were ready, leading to lawsuits with its builder.
• The Venetian's outdoor gondola ride operates seasonally and only in suitable weather.
• Adelson's later Sands Macau, opened in 2004, made him the first American developer to build a casino in Macau.

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