The Mirage is about to vanish from the Las Vegas Strip. Gambling ends and the doors close Wednesday at the iconic tropical island-themed hotel-casino that opened in 1989 with a fire-spewing volcano outside, and Siegfried & Roy’s lions and dolphins inside.

A final blast from The Mirage’s signature volcano marked the passage Wednesday of an aging Las Vegas resort that wowed crowds when it opened in 1989 and went on to revolutionize the casino resort industry and reshape Las Vegas as a tourist destination.

The Mirage is about to vanish from the Las Vegas Strip. Gambling ends and the doors close Wednesday at the iconic tropical island-themed hotel-casino that opened in 1989 with a fire-spewing volcano outside, and Siegfried & Roy’s lions and dolphins inside.

Host Sam Shad sits down with Bo Bernhard, vice president of economic development at UNLV.

Jump in the Mud on Vegas All In at "Dig This," where owner Ed Mum lets us play with bulldozers and excavators. The whole family can have fun competing in games and crushing cars. Next, we tour the Black Fire Institute at UNLV with Bob Bernhard, exploring its revolutionary vision for hotels, gaming, and restaurants. At the Atomic Museum, Joe Kent shows us a popular exhibit.

UNLV is looking to cash in on the positive momentum of development in the southwest Las Vegas Valley to lure high-profile companies to its tech park in the area.

Fifth-generation Nevadan Bo Bernhard is vice president of economic development and a professor at UNLV and served as the inaugural research director at the UNLV International Gaming Institute. His great great grandfather was a card dealer in Dust Bowl-era Texas and Oklahoma who got tired of ending up on the wrong side of the law while working and moved to Las Vegas. His own family’s story, Bernhard says, is an example of how gambling and tourism have resulted in many different people deciding to live and work in Las Vegas, and these days, “the stuff attracting people is more mainstream. The NFL is something that’s beloved, and you can find it in 32 locales across the United States.”

A meeting scheduled in the 1980s between the NFL and sportsbook directors sparked hope in Las Vegas that their relationship would soon take a much more positive turn after decades during which the league kept the city at arm’s length.