Wynn Las Vegas Ahead of Schedule

LAS VEGAS --Wynn Las Vegas, at $2 billion the second most expensive construction project in the world, is on budget and ahead of schedule for its planned April 2005 opening, Wynn Las Vegas Chairman Steve Wynn said.

"The hotel tower is about one week ahead of schedule and the showroom is about a month ahead," Wynn said Tuesday.

Hotel tower construction has reached the 24th story of the property's eventual 50-story, 613-foot height. When completed, Wynn Las Vegas will have the Strip's tallest hotel tower, about 20 percent taller than the one at Mandalay Bay.

There are just under 2,000 workers employed on the project, a number expected to jump by another 600 in about a month, he said.

Construction of the Wynn Las Vegas mountain, its signature design element, began about five weeks ago, Wynn said.

Workers are now building the mountain's underground base, including two service tunnels. Above-ground work on the mountain is slated to begin in January and is expected to finished about four months later.

"This is the second biggest project anywhere in the world after The Big Dig in Boston," Wynn said, referring to the massive, oft-delayed freeway tunnel construction project under way there.