Las Vegas says goodbye to historic Tropicana hotel with huge implosion

globalnews.ca:

Las Vegas Strip, the historic Tropicana hotel is no more.The hotel and casino tumbled to the ground in a planned implosion that featured a fireworks and drone show in the early hours of Wednesday morning, reducing to rubble the last true mob building on the Strip.There were no public viewing areas for the implosion due to the safety risks — the streets around the hotel were closed by Las Vegas police — though people in the neighbouring highrise resorts had a great view of the action.At around 2:30 a.m., the fireworks show began, local outlet KTNV reports, accompanied by 555 drones that buzzed around in tandem, spelling out ‘Tropicana’ and ‘Thank You.’Minutes later, the implosion was triggered and the towers of the Tropicana came down in just a matter of seconds, sending up huge clouds. When the dust settled, the building was gone, brought down by nearly 2,200 pounds of explosives.In its place will be a US$1.5-billion baseball stadium for the Oakland Athletics.

The ballpark and on-site resort will take up about nine acres, planned by Bally’s and Gaming and Leisure Properties, according to KTNV.The Tropicana’s demolition is the first implosion in nearly a decade for a city that loves fresh starts and that has made casino implosions as much a part of its identity as gambling itself.“What Las Vegas has done, in classic Las Vegas style, they’ve turned many of these implosions into spectacles,” said Geoff Schumacher, historian and vice-president of exhibits and programs at the Mob Museum.Former casino mogul Steve Wynn changed the way Las Vegas blows up casinos in 1993 with the implosion of the Dunes to make room for the Bellagio. Wynn not only thought to televise the event but also created a fantastical story for the implosion