Boyd Gaming announces construction won't resume on Echelon for years

It blamed the downturn in the economy when it suspended work in August 2008 and Tuesday's update fueled a growing concern among contractors Valleywide. The sound of progress on the Echelon project will be silenced for the next three to five years.

That's how long it'll be before Boyd expects to restart construction, and how long before people like Mike Hufrich get a better view. "[It's kind of ugly.] It's sort of like you want to see things continuing on, and now with the economy, you can see things that were once booming are now stopped or slowed down," says Mike.

The now stalled Echelon project is a reflection of a bigger construction concern on the Strip, down the line, whether there'll be any other big projects over the next decade. "I'm probably going to have to look at another career [when CityCenter's done]," says one construction worker.

Like thousands of others, he has been told the building boom in Las Vegas will be over for about ten years. He hid his identity because he knows he's so easily replaceable. "It definitely puts a strain on your whole life, especially when this has been your career for the past fifteen or twenty years," he says.

"Just try to hang in there, and hopefully the economy will come back," adds Mike. When it does, Boyd Gaming expects to finish the almost us$ 5 billion Echelon project. Boyd says it sustained more than a 6.5 % drop in its net income for the quarter ending last month.