Tropicana Implosion Scheduled for Oct. 9

By Scott Roeben, on August 26 2024
3 min read 7 comments
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Tropicana finally has an implosion date: Oct. 9, 2024 at 2:30 a.m. (or late night on Oct. 8).

We almost said “much-anticipated,” but it doesn’t really feel that way. The closure of Tropicana barely caused a ripple in the Vegas zeitgeist, the reaction to the implosion date has been pretty much the same: Meh. You know, an anti-climax, something with which we are definitely not familiar.

That said, the implosion of what’s left of Tropicana (the majority of the demolition has already been done) is the first big Vegas implosion in nearly a decade, so let’s make some boom, already.

Trop opened April 4, 1957, closed April 2, 2024. We’re convinced they closed two days earlier than the anniversary just to annoy us.

Both the Tropicana towers will be brought down at the same time, the 22-story Tropicana Club tower and 22-story Paradise Tower.

The last Las Vegas casino implosion was August 16, 2016, when the final tower of the Riviera came down. Implosions have fallen out of favor in recent years, with demolition companies preferring to dismantle buildings instead.

Despite happening at 2:30 a.m., the Trop implosion will be accompanied by the requisite hoopla, including a drone and fireworks display.

Why is the Tropicana being imploded at 2:30 a.m.? Several reasons. While hoopla is part of the experience, the early morning timing has to do with minimizing disruption.

The Trop is very near the airport, so there’s that. There are myriad safety factors involved with an implosion (asbestos has been mitigated, but there’s still debris and dust clouds involved), so the smaller the crowd, the better. And don’t get us started about traffic snarls.

Yeah, sort of a mixed message. This is mostly for the media, not the general public. This is a lot about P.R.

The Tropicana implosion is being presented as a joint “commemorative event” with the A’s and Bally’s Corporation, operator of the Tropicana.

Both these entities have made some big promises for what’s next on the Tropicana site, but skepticism abounds.

Neither entity has shown they have the financial wherewithal to fund their whimsical projects.

The A’s confirmed they have no financing for a ballpark in July 2024.

Bally’s Corp. made headlines by being acquired by its largest stockholder, Standard General, but that has zero to do with financing a Las Vegas resort. There was a glimmer of hope when Gaming and Leisure Properties (the owner of the Tropicana land) agreed to pay for a Bally’s project in Chicago, but to put it in plain English, Bally’s is tapped out.

Essentially, they’re paving Paradise Tower to put up a parking lot.

The plan, even prior to the A’s debacle, was the demolish Tropicana. It has always struggled, and it was time to bid the old girl farewell.

Here’s an overview of Las Vegas casino demolitions.


So, what’s the best way to view the Tropicana implosion? From your couch at home, of course!

If you insist upon seeing the implosion for yourself, the best views of the Tropicana implosion will be from hotel rooms surrounding the site. The hotels include MGM Grand, New York-New York, Excalibur and Luxor.

We’re fairly sure all those room rates have surged since the implosion date announcement was made.

Serendipity has graced the tiny Oyo, as it’s right next to Tropicana and will provide a front row seat for the implosion. In fact, Oyo was ahead of the curve and is doing an implosion promotion.

In our experience, casino implosions are a lot like sex. It’s a lot of hype, then 15 seconds of entertainment and lots of frustration trying to figure out how to get home afterward.

The implosion of the Tropicana will be an old-school Las Vegas event, but the real fireworks will start once the dust clears. The A’s and Bally’s deals are likely to go sideways and it could be years before anything of use will be built on the Tropicana site.

We’ll be there when it all blows up.