Largest Ferris wheel ever to roll out of Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS — The madcap carnival on the Las Vegas Strip is getting another over-thetop addition: the world’s largest Ferris wheel.
The outer wheel of the 55-story High Roller ride is scheduled to be hoisted into place Tuesday.
The gargantuan project is now visible from all over the city, including the airport. Early next year, it will be outfitted with 1,500 LED lights, and start its slow spin.
“It’s going to be an icon,” Project Director David Codiga said. “It’s going to be a part of your visit to Las Vegas if you ride it or not. It’s more or less impossible not to see it if you come here.”
Caesars Entertainment Corp., which owns more casinos than any other U.S. gambling company, is building the ride as part of its $550 million Linq development, a new outdoor plaza across the street from Caesars Palace.
The walking mall, sandwiched between the Flamingo and Harrah’s hotel-casino, is expected to open this winter.
It’s designed to lure Gen Xers and millennials, demographics Caesars believes will contribute a majority of Sin City tourist dollars by 2015.
City after city has jumped to put a new spin on the classic carnival attraction over the past decade.
The High Roller will be100 feet taller than the London Eye, which opened in 2000, 30 feet taller than China’s Star of Nanchang, which opened in 2006, and 9 feet taller than the Singapore Flyer, which opened in 2008.
These giant urban Ferris wheels typically transport riders in large, fixed capsules instead of the smaller, teetering baskets most people remember from childhood.
High Roller riders will have to take a break from gambling and smoking when they enter one of the 28 glass capsules attached to the gargantuan wheel, Codiga said, but they will be able to take in the marquee-lit panoramic views with a drink in hand.
The wheel, which has been under construction since 2011, is taller than the Bellagio hotel-casino but still dwarfed by the Stratosphere observation tower, which rises more than 1,000 feet.
It will carry 3.5 million pounds of steel and will take 30 minutes to make one revolution.