Glitz Blitz

As part of tonight’s celebration of the grand reopening of Harrah’s Las Vegas, which is wrapping up the biggest renovation in the history of Nevada’s Clark County, famed aerialist Tino Wallenda will inch his way along 139 feet of steel cable, 99 feet above the Las Vegas Strip.

Talk about metaphors.

Harrah’s Las Vegas is the latest property to join the gravity-defying act of building and rebuilding in Las Vegas. More than 20,000 hotel rooms will be added to the Las Vegas market by the end of 1999 at properties old (Harrah’s, Caesars Palace, Circus Circus) and new (New York, New York and the upcoming Bellagio from Mirage Resorts and Paris from Hilton-owned Bally’s).

We’re talking tons of glitz, neon and 24-hour dining. Vegas watchers predict that some properties will do very well but that others will be scrambling to find customers.

About 32 million people are expected to visit Las Vegas this year, up 8%. Slightly more than one in four will be from Southern California.

“There is no question that people are attracted to the newest and the best,” said Saul F. Leonard, who runs a hotel and gaming consulting company in Century City. “You’re going to see some failures in Las Vegas, but those will be the properties that are already on the borderline.”

This year has been “a little difficult for Las Vegas,” said David B. McDonald, an analyst with Nationsbanc Montgomery Securities. “Some of the new properties were not as engaging as had been hoped.”

For Harrah’s Las Vegas, which was running close to capacity with healthy gaming revenue before the renovation, the choice was nonetheless clear: Up the ante or cash in its chips.

Harrah’s Las Vegas was a traditional hotel--it opened 23 years ago as the world’s largest Holiday Inn--and it lacked the sort of non-gaming amenities that competitors were installing, said Thom Hall, general manager of Harrah’s Las Vegas and senior vice president of Memphis-based Harrah’s Entertainment Inc.

“The prospect for growth was not very good . . . given the changes in the marketplace,” Hall said. So Harrah’s set about redoing virtually everything along an international carnaval theme.

The hotel added 30,000 square feet of gaming space, built a 35-story tower with 644 standard rooms and 50 suites, and added 292 rooms to the property, bringing the total to 2,699 rooms and 108 suites. It added restaurants and redesigned existing eateries, put in a 40,000-square-foot entertainment court, opened new retail shops, built a fitness center and spa, opened a race and sports book and installed a new facade.

“We’ve spent $200 million and 18 months getting ready for this day,” Hall said.

The hotel opening comes at a critical time for Harrah’s Entertainment, which has spent the year upgrading its properties to attract a more well-heeled gambler.

Harrah’s Entertainment on Wednesday reported a 14.3% drop in operating profit for the first nine months of the year because of disruptions caused by the Vegas renovation, increased competition for its riverboat gambling operations, and weekday road closures in September and October to repair the main highway to Lake Tahoe.

A continuing problem for Harrah’s has been its uncompleted casino in New Orleans, which is in U.S. Bankruptcy Court reorganization and is tangled in political, legal and economic knots.

“Thus far, 1997 has been a rebuilding and repositioning year that we believe will pay off in strong performance and continued expansion of our premier reputation in the industry,” said Philip Satre, chairman, chief executive and president of Harrah’s Entertainment. Harrah’s is a hotel and casino operator with properties in 13 markets including Las Vegas; Lake Tahoe; Laughlin, Nev.; and Atlantic City.

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Nancy Rivera Brooks can be reached via e-mail at nancy.rivera.brooks@latimes.com or by fax at (213) 237-7837.