Guests at the Golden Nugget can climb 300 feet, then slide through the shark tank in an enclosed slide. Today the property features a lagoon-like swimming pool that circles a three-story shark tank. In the latter years of the twentieth century, the Golden Nugget underwent a number of transformations, becoming one of the city's iconic hotel-casinos. In the 1980s, the Golden Nugget's facade was remodeled, and two more hotel towers were eventually added. The period marked not only the transformation of the Golden Nugget but the emergence of Wynn as one of the most high-profile developers in Las Vegas. At the time, Wynn was the youngest casino owner in Las Vegas. Wynn had an ambitious expansion plan for the Golden Nugget that included adding hotel rooms to the property and in 1977, he opened the first hotel tower on the property. In 1972, Steve Wynn bought a stake in the property, but gradually increased his ownership of the casino and became CEO in 1973.
Even as the venue expanded, it remained strictly a casino. The casino expanded in the 1950s, when Buck Blaine, a co-owner, began buying adjacent properties. At the time of its construction, it was the largest casino in the world, and one of the city's most luxurious. The Golden Nugget was built by Guy McAfee in 1946, making it one of the city's oldest casinos.
