Construction

Caesars Forum was built by Penta Building Group.^[5] KGA Architecture was the interior designer,^[12] while The Friedmutter Group served as the architect.^[5] Groundbreaking took place on July 16, 2018.^[9][11] Because of a delay related to permitting, the project's construction schedule was reduced by three months. Construction mostly occurred on a continuous schedule. At the peak of construction, the project had 600 workers.^[5][13][14]

The property was sloped, and Penta took advantage of this by adding an underground parking garage on the east side.^[13] The area had long been known for flood problems, and Caesars had to get various approvals to correct the issue. Dirt from the eastside excavation was used to raise the property's southwest corner by about seven feet, helping to prevent flooding.^[5] Piling was not necessary, due to the presence of hard caliche in the ground. Concrete pours took place in the middle of the night, during the coolest temperatures of the day.^[13]

SME Steel manufactured 10 trusses for the facility at a shop in West Jordan, Utah. Each truss was 315 feet long and weighed approximately 275 tons. Each one was cut into 10 pieces and hauled to Las Vegas, where the trusses were then put back together using nearly 2,000 bolts each. An early plan was to weld the trusses back together, but this was scrapped in favor of bolts, which would expedite construction.^[5][13] Crews began placing the trusses into place in January 2019. Two cranes were used in the lifts, and a third was used for stability. Crews expected to complete one lift each week.^[5] The building was topped off on June 13, 2019.^[15]

Opening

A five-week promotional tour was launched in February 2020, with 14 scheduled stops in cities across the U.S.^[16][17][18] The $375 million Caesars Forum was scheduled to open on March 18, 2020,^[19][20] although the opening was delayed one day prior, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[21] The facility had been chosen as one of the locations for the 2020 NFL Draft, scheduled for April.^[22][23] However, the event was canceled, also due to the pandemic.^[24] The facility sat largely unused for most of the year, because of COVID-19 restrictions in Nevada.^[25] It eventually hosted its first conference on October 25, 2020.^[26][27] The 2022 NFL Draft took place at the same locations originally planned for 2020, including Caesars Forum.^[28][29] Public draft festivities were held at the outdoor area of Caesars Forum, while the convention facilities were used as headquarters for media outlets covering the event.^[30]