The Rat Pack-era casino goes out with a bang

LAS VEGAS – The Tropicana has had a long history by Las Vegas standards.

The hotel-casino opened in 1957. Nicknamed the “Tiffany of the Strip” for its grandeur, the resort became known for its entertainment offerings. The stages featured the long-running showgirl revue Folies Bergere and notable jazz artists such as Louis Armstrong.

The property sat on the Strip for nearly 70 years.

The shutdown took less than 30 seconds.

Around 2:30 a.m. Pacific time on Wednesday, more than 2,000 pounds of explosives destroyed the Tropicana's Paradise Tower and Club Tower in about 22 seconds. It was the first implosion in Las Vegas in nearly a decade, clearing space on the Strip for a new Major League Baseball stadium for the Athletics, formerly in Oakland, California.

“Let’s not think of it as an end, but as the beginning of something even bigger,” Arik Knowles, general manager and vice president of hospitality at Tropicana, told viewers Wednesday morning.

“It’s a work of art”

The farewell included a 555 drone and fireworks display set to tunes from Vegas legends like Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, with drones creating images of the iconic “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign and the Athletics logo.

Due to security restrictions, there were no public viewing areas for the implosion, and an estimated 500 spectators were in attendance at the invitation-only event. That didn't stop people from flocking to Las Vegas hoping to catch a glimpse of the show.

Room prices for surrounding hotels skyrocketed the night of the implosion. At Mandalay Bay, where a rooftop implosion-watching party was held, room rates were $699 on Tuesday night, compared with less than $80 for a stay on Thursday. Other hotels near the implosion site such as the Excalibur, Luxor and Oyo were fully booked, according to their websites.

Steve Crupi, a former television news reporter known as the “implosion guy” after covering all major implosions in Las Vegas, told USA TODAY he was used to seeing large crowds gathering to watch casinos fall.

“There’s something magical about implosions,” he said. “Such a large structure that can be demolished in just 5 seconds? It just seems impossible. And yet they do it with such precision and artistry that it is really nothing more than an act of destruction. It’s a work of art.”

Tropicana cast members share memories: The Tropicana was once “the Tiffany of the Strip.” It was a home for former showgirls.

This isn't the first attempt in Las Vegas to use explosions to boost tourism. In the 1950s, the city's Chamber of Commerce devoted itself to nuclear tourism, even publishing a calendar for tourists that included a bomb blast schedule and places to visit, according to PBS.

“It's just part of the human fascination with booming things,” said David Schwartz, an associate professor of history at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

When the first resort implosion occurred on the Las Vegas Strip, the city was already well versed in turning explosions into spectacle.

During the dune implosion in 1993, the Treasure Island pirate ship appeared to fire its cannons at the 38-year-old property. Cannons exploded, hundreds of pounds of explosives were detonated, and the resort fell apart.

More hotel-casino implosions followed, with hotels like the Stardust, the Aladdin and the Desert Inn crumbling into clouds of dust. The Riviera was the last strip resort to implode before the Tropicana, with a demolition in 2016.

“There's been a dry spell,” said Mark Loizeaux, president of Controlled Demolition, Inc. The Phoenix, Maryland-based company has overseen every major real estate implosion in Las Vegas since the Dunes.

Like the other resorts that fell before it, the Tropicana's fall was carefully planned.

The towers were gutted in advance, Loizeaux said, and walls were demolished to contain the “dust buildup.” The implosion of the property was planned for an early weekday in order to have less wind and traffic.

The goal, Loizeaux said, is to “quickly and safely demolish these structures and get things back to normal for the community and its casinos.”

Let's play ball

Las Vegas is known for many things. Standstill is not one of them.

The city has a habit of reinventing itself, transitioning from the era of the feral rat pack to one focused on building mega-resorts.

Now the city has a shiny new focus: sports.

The fall of the Tropicana is expected to make room for the city's fourth-largest sports team. Bally's Corporation (a gaming company) and the Athletics plan to open a new resort and baseball stadium where the Tropicana once stood.

Nine acres will be used for a $1.5 billion, 33,000-seat indoor stadium. The remainder will be reserved for a new casino resort.

According to Soohyung Kim, Bally's chairman, details for the attached resort are still being worked out. There is no opening date for the resort, but the ballpark is scheduled to open during the 2028 MLB season.

Kim said the Tropicana is an “amazing” casino with a rich history tied to classic Las Vegas icons like the Rat Pack and Showgirls. But Vegas, he said, is not a sentimental city.

“It understands that to remain the tourism capital of America, it must continue to build and grow,” he said. “We understand that what comes out of this, including a baseball stadium, must contribute to the health of the entire city. And I think we’re going to do a great job, and I think it’s going to be a tremendous asset to the city.”

(This story has been updated to change or add a photo or video.)

“It’s a work of art”

Let's play ball

Leave a Reply Cancel reply