MGM Grand to close theme park for winter

MGM Grand Inc. will close its theme park for the winter, but most of the park's employees will be offered jobs elsewhere at the property.

"We're shifting the park's schedule to go from year-round to seasonal, with a number of special events scheduled over the winter," said MGM Public Relations Manager Lynn Holt.

Holt said the park will close from Sept. 8 through March, duplicating the action by park operators nationwide who close water-themed attractions in colder months.

The MGM Grand theme park has a log ride and other water attractions at the park and has traditionally experienced a drop in business when schools reopen.

Holt said MGM has already schedule "about a dozen" special events, some open to the public and others for private organizations, that will require reopening the park for short periods after Labor Day.

Those events will require staffing, and MGM plans to offer jobs in other hotel-casino locations to park workers to encourage them to stay with the company and be available to work those events.

"Fortunately, we have almost as many job openings elsewhere as we have employees whose full-time employment at the park will be interrupted," Holt said.

An estimated 200 park workers will be affected by the closing. Those who don't get other jobs at the MGM can elect to be on call for the special events and will be offered their old positions back when the park reopens next spring.

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