An historic Las Vegas casino’s run came to an end in the early morning hours Wednesday as the Tropicana was imploded. Sin City has seen numerous casino implosions through the years and the demolition of the Trop attracted numerous onlookers as hotel rooms price surged in the days before the casino came down.
It took 22 seconds for the resort’s two towers to fall. Bally Corp., owner of the property, made the event an even bigger show with a seven-minute firework and drone show beforehand. The casino had been in place since 1957 and is now being demolished to make room for a new casino-stadium for the Oakland Athletics baseball team.
“It is honoring what the Tropicana has meant to Las Vegas,” Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCA) President and CEO Steve Hill told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “It’s been a big part of our identity, our brand and certainly early in its history it was an iconic location. Now we’re going to turn into a new iconic location, which is very fitting for Las Vegas. It’s very exciting for our city to bring Major League Baseball here.”
Officials with the LVCA, Bally’s, Clark County, and the baseball franchise attended the implosion. Roads around the casino were shut down hours before the event to prevent pedestrians from being injured by any debris.
INSANE! Tropicana Implosion was Incredible to witness in person! Spectacular fireworks & drone show ended with 2 towers coming down.
It was freaking EPIC!!! Love the drone countdown detonator #DropTheTrop pic.twitter.com/IXnCieXk0j
— Attractions 360° (@SoCal360) October 9, 2024
The property officially closed in April and plans now call for a $1.5 billion, 33,000-capacity stadium to be built on the site. The A’s released artist renderings of the stadium in March and construction is expected to begin by the second quarter of 2025. The team is expected to begin play in Las Vegas by 2028 and Bally’s is expected to build another casino on site when that concludes.
“We feel very good about where we’re at and I think things are all moving forward according to plan,” A’s owner John Fisher told the Review-Journal. “It was spectacular, it made me so happy and so proud and excited for the future. Seeing those buildings come down so quickly was astounding.”
The last casino implosions on the Las Vegas Strip were in 2007 when both the Stardust and the Frontier came down. The site of the Stardust would ultimately become Resorts World, and the site of the Frontier remains undeveloped with Wynn Resorts.
Tropicana LV: Final Farewell! Join us at 2:30 a.m. PST on 10/9/24 to honor 67 years of history as we say goodbye to this iconic venue. Exciting new developments are on the horizon with @Athletics‘ ballpark and more! Learn about the Live Stream: https://t.co/dz01jXLQqR pic.twitter.com/a5qgiLUF5e
— Tropicana Las Vegas: Final Farewell (@TropLV) September 30, 2024