Hayes Lodge. It was demolished in 1959, although Hayes continued living in a house located on the property. Another portion of the land was occupied by a hotel-casino known as the Castaways. Casino owner Steve Wynn had considered building a resort on the Strip to be known as Victoria Bay, but the project was canceled in 1981, due to high costs. Three years later, he thought about building a resort in downtown Las Vegas, on 50 acres of railroad land that would later become the site of the Clark County Government Center. Wynn's plan to build in downtown were scrapped after the railroad declined his $50 million offer for the land, asking twice that amount. Wynn eventually purchased the Castaways and nearby acreage in October 1986. Wynn's purchase included Hayes' house, which was vacated and demolished along with the Castaways to make way for a new casino resort. Wynn sold his Golden Nugget Atlantic City resort, and used the profits to fund his new project. Name Numerous names were considered for Wynn's project, including Bombay and Bombay Club, which had been rejected by the end of 1986. "Wynn" was considered as a name, and would later be used for the Wynn Las Vegas resort. Wynn unveiled plans for the tropical-themed resort, temporarily known then as the Golden Nugget, in June 1987. He said the project would be renamed at a later point to match its South Seas theme. The project's working title came from Wynn's Golden Nugget hotel-casino in downtown Las Vegas. Wynn did not intend to have two Golden Nuggets in Las Vegas, believing they would become known as "the old one" and "the new one", the former of which he found undesirable for the downtown property. The final name was announced in December 1988: The Mirage. The name emphasized the resort as an oasis in the Nevada desert. To avoid confusion, Wynn purchased the rights to the Mirage name from two local businesses, the La Mirage Casino and the Mirage Motel. Both received $250,000 to change their names. Development Construction began in November 1987. General contractors included MarCor Development Company and Sierra Construction Corporation, the latter of which worked on the hotel tower. The project had an early cost of $550 million, although it went over budget. With an ultimate cost of $630 million, the Mirage was the world's most expensive hotel-casino ever built, until the opening of