Caesars Palace to demolish rotunda along the Strip to clear space for Las Vegas F1 Grand Prix

Las Vegas' Caesars Palace is bidding farewell to its rotunda along the Strip, in a move that is set to clear space ahead of the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix, scheduled Nov. 16-18. The Clark County Building Department issued a demolition permit last week for the domed, Roman-themed structure along Las Vegas Boulevard, records show. The permit is valued at $157,500.

Workers are expected to remove landscaping, obelisks and other features at the rotunda, filings with the country indicate, as reported by Las Vegas Review-Journal. Building plans also state, without providing additional details: “Demolition in preparation for F1 event.”

Caesars Palace's rotunda

Located next to a driveway to the sprawling hotel-casino, the rotunda was still standing Tuesday afternoon, the Review-Journal notes. The rotunda has been closed to the public for years and appears to be more of an oft-photographed curiosity in Las Vegas’ famed casino corridor.

Heidi Sarno Straus, daughter of Caesars Palace developer Jay Sarno, who opened the resort in the 1960s, told the aforementioned source that the rotunda was “not in the original plan” and was “really meaningless." "It might have been used for storage. It was really just aesthetics. It’s no loss,” she added. 

Las Vegas’ Formula One race weekend, meanwhile, is scheduled for Nov. 16-18, and is poised to draw huge crowds and a windfall of spending. The 3.8-mile route will include a stretch of the Strip, and drivers are expected to reach speeds of more than 200 mph. 

Caesars Entertainment already unveiled a $5 million “Emperor Package” for the race that includes five nights in a villa at Caesars Palace with views of the tracks. The race is expected to produce almost $1.3 billion in total economic impact, according to a January announcement from Las Vegas Grand Prix CEO Renee Wilm.