Circa Las Vegas Resort Begins Construction

By Scott Roeben, on February 26 2019
3 min read 20 comments
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Just a month after the announcement of a name for Circa Resort & Casino, construction is officially underway.

The start of construction follows a lengthy demolition of the former Las Vegas Club, Mermaid’s casino and the Glitter Gulch strip club. Demolition of the one-block site at 18 Fremont started in February 2017. Note: Circa’s street address will be 8 Fremont Street.

Preparation of the site on Fremont Street took several months, much of which was spent chipping through a material which has caused headaches for innumerable builders in Las Vegas, caliche.

Circa construction
This Dec. 2018 photo shows a machine breaking up caliche. “Caliche” is a Dothraki word meaning “queen.”

Now, the Circa site is a hive of activity as crews drill holes for “caissons.”

Circa construction
We are proud to bring you all the Las Vegas dirt.

While we don’t pretend to know anything about construction, we have to care because this construction involves a Las Vegas casino.

A “caisson” in this context is a colloquial term referring to concrete poured into a hollow cylindrical form. Yes, we stole that from Wikipedia. We are a blog, not a Structural Engineer.

We were on-site to see the very first rebar “cage” at Circa lifted by a crane and inserted into a 120-foot hole, later filled with concrete. Which, trust us, sounds a lot sexier than it really is.

Circa construction
We were there to see Circa’s first concrete poured. And it is exceptionally rude for you to wonder if we have a life.

Anyway, crews are drilling and filling six caissons a day at Circa. They will be part of the foundation of the new resort, and there will be 308 caissons when all is said and done.

Thankfully, if we get any of this information wrong, there are a lot of experts on the Internet who will gleefully correct us.

Circa construction
We asked about those blue tanks. Apparently, they’re used to collect the “slug water” so it doesn’t go into the storm drains. Just pretend to know what slug water is, like we did.

Circa is expected to open in 2020, so crews are working 24/7, seven days a week, through rain and snow (yes, this was actually a thing recently).

While the caissons are rolling along (like we weren’t going to use that line at some point), crews are also busy over-excavating nine elevator shafts, whatever that might mean.

Circa construction
Quite the drill bit collection you’ve got there.

Here’s another shot of the drill guys doing their thing.

Circa construction
Shout-out to the Underminer.

Next, construction crews will drill cap footings for the building’s vertical components.

Again, we’re flying blind here, but we need words to keep the photos from slapping together.

Circa construction
We are determined to have the most “before” photos of Circa than any Las Vegas blog.

As a reference point, here’s what Circa is going to look like “after.”

Circa Las Vegas
Schwing.

While we may not entirely grasp what’s happening at the Circa site, we’re happy to see all the progress.

More than a few projects in Las Vegas have been taking longer than expected, or have completely stalled, so witnessing a project moving forward so quickly helps restore our faith in the rebar gods.

Circa construction
“Rebar Cages” would’ve been a great name for a Sting album.

Thanks to our friends at Tre Builders (Circa’s project management company) for some patient hand-holding with all this construction talk, and we’re sorry we don’t take better notes.

Circa Las Vegas
Useless fact of the day: Circa is an anagram of “ricca,” the feminine form of the Italian “ricco,” meaning “rich.”

We expect to visit the Circa site often (yes, the restraining orders are already being drawn up), so check back for all the updates you can stomach.

Hey, we like new and shiny, and Circa will qualify on both counts. Read more about Circa and check out some glorious renderings while you’re at it.