Bally’s Sets Date for Tropicana Las Vegas Implosion & Party

Posted on: August 26, 2024, 06:19h. 

Last updated on: August 30, 2024, 01:37h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Las Vegas Myths.

The Tropicana, one of the last vestiges of Las Vegas’ mafia-dominated 1950s Rat Pack era, will be imploded in the wee hours of Wednesday, October 9, according to its current owners. Or, at least what’s left of the casino icon’s already-gutted pair of 22-story hotel towers will be.

What’s left of the Tropicana, which opened on April 4, 1957, and closed on April 2, 2024, will be destroyed in October, ostensibly to make way for a baseball stadium for the relocated Oakland A’s. (Image: YouTube/Raiders 1967)

Until the news was broken by several local media outlets simultaneously on Monday, it was commonly believed that Bally’s Corp. would keep the date secret so crowds wouldn’t gather to watch what, since the ’90s, has become a rather unfortunate Las Vegas ritual.

Instead, Bally’s is planning what sounds like a party.

Celebrate Sad Times, Come On!

On the night of October 8, Bally’s will stage what it is calling “a commemorative event” featuring a drone and fireworks show from Fireworks by Grucci. The event will conclude with the implosion at 2:30 a.m. the next day.

The Landmark comes down at 5:37 a.m. on Nov. 7, 1995, a scene that was also filmed by Tim Burton for inclusion in his 1995 movie, “Mars Attacks.” (Image: Controlled Demolition)

Directing the implosion will be Controlled Demolition Inc., the Pheonix, Md.-based company that also brought down the Dunes in 1993, the Landmark in 1995, the Sands in 1996, the Aladdin in 1998, the Desert Inn in 2001, the Stardust and Frontier in 2007 and the Riviera in 2016.

Bally’s has a permit to set up for the implosion from September 30 through October 8.

Implosions are always conducted at night in Las Vegas, to minimize traffic disruption and the health impacts of dust and anything that possibly goes wrong.

Clark County still needs to approve the implosion permit, though, and the deadline for that isn’t until a week beforehand.

Bally’s claims that it has to drop the Trop to make way for a baseball stadium for the relocated Oakland Athletics on nine of the site’s 35 acres — in addition to a new casino resort on the rest. Construction of the stadium alone will take $1.5 billion and three years.

Until the stadium opens, according to the plan, the A’s will spend three years in Sacramento.

Many Las Vegas insiders, including Anthony Curtis’ Las Vegas Advisor and our own Vital Vegas, wouldn’t bet on either project happening.

Before construction can even begin, supposedly in April, the A’s will need approval from Clark County and the Las Vegas Stadium Authority on three more agreements, covering development, the lease, and nonrelocation.

A fourth agreement, on community benefits, has already been approved.