Final beam of Circa resort tower moved into place in topping out

Leave it to Circa CEO Derek Stevens to stow away a few more surprises about the downtown resort he plans to open Oct. 28.

Stevens, who signed the final metal beam before it was hoisted through the 85-degree Friday morning air and into place, surprised the casino industry earlier in the week by announcing the resort would open more than a month ahead of schedule.

The last beam had the requisite American flag and evergreen tree attached to it as a crane operator guided it to its final position.

Where the last beam landed, 458 feet up at Circa’s rooftop, will be the site of another surprise.

“We’ve been very oriented around great destinations (in Las Vegas),” Stevens said moments after the last beam was attached. “We’ve talked a lot about the three-story sportsbook, we’ve talked a lot about our pool amphitheater, but the rooftop is something we’ve kind of kept up our sleeves, so we’re going to have an announcement about that in about a month.”

The rooftop of downtown’s tallest building should provide an unobstructed view of the entire resort corridor, including all of downtown and the Strip to the south.

Stevens also promised to soon share more details of the bar scene inside the first from-the-ground-up resort built in Las Vegas since the Lucky Dragon opened its doors on Sahara Avenue just off the Strip in 2016, closed and reopened as the Ahern Hotel.

He’s also looking forward to a friendly rivalry with the Westgate, whose Superbook is touted as one of the world’s largest sportsbooks.

Stevens also praised his McCarthy Builders contractor for essentially completing the job of that magnitude without any serious injuries. He noted that the opening of the property will have a unique twist of the casino and its amenities opening before the lodging.

“It’s never happened in Las Vegas where you open a hotel-casino sans the hotel for eight weeks,” he said. “It’s something new, something unique. But this is the year for something new and unique.”

The first five floors of the resort, which includes a two-story casino with 1,350 slot machines and 49 table games, a three-story, stadium-style sportsbook with a screen visible throughout the casino, a fifth-floor pool amphitheater with a 14-million-pixel screen and six temperature-controlled pools and two spas, will be the first to open.

Circa’s nine-story “Garage Mahal,” which includes a ride-hailing hub, and four retail concepts also will be a part of the initial rollout.

The 777-room tower will open toward the end of December, the property’s original opening date.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.