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LAS VEGAS HOTEL IMPLOSIONS

HISTORIC CASINOS MAKING WAY FOR NEW HIGH RISES


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Many of the famous Strip hotels from the 1950s have been torn down to make way for new Las Vegas high rise condos. For nostalgia buffs that remember the "Old" Las Vegas Strip, here are the implosion videos of some landmark casinos that used to grace the Las Vegas skyline. I have included below the sentimental favorites that hold a special place in my own heart.


VIEW NOSTALGIC IMPLOSION VIDEOS

In 1979 I dropped my first coin into a slot machine at The Landmark Hotel. I felt so grownup sitting there with a drink in one hand and a roll of nickels clutched in the other. I won a wopping $3.20 that day.


I saw my very first Las Vegas show at the Stardust Hotel, The Lido de Paris, also in 1979 when I moved to Las Vegas. At that time Siegfried and Roy were just one of the many variety acts sandwiched in between the lavish costume numbers along with Bobby Berosini and his Orangutans, Chinese acrobats, and the magnificent Lipizzaner stallions. No show since has ever measured up to that first magical extravaganza.


Later I got to see Siegfried and Roy the night they opened up as headliners at the Frontier Hotel. During those days I worked for a tourist center on the Strip next door to the Aladdin Hotel, and my co workers and I used to hang out there almost every day after work. And my husband worked at the Sands Hotel and Casino until right before it closed.


But I will never forget the night they imploded the Dunes. I had just gone to see my first ever hockey game, The Las Vegas Thunder, at the Thomas and Mack Center. The enthusiastic fans were yelling and cheering after an exciting win, with lots of body checking action and some bench clearing brawls. But as we came out the exits, the news swelled among the crowd that they were about to bring down the Dunes. Instantly a solemn hush came over 15,000+ raucous hockey fans as the Dunes fell gracefully to the ground in the City's first ever implosion.

So the casinos shown below all still live vividly in my mind. Raise your glass and salute them with me as we watch their glorious last moments. Gone but never forgotten. And don't forget to share this page with your friends.


THE FRONTIER HOTEL

Opened: Oct, 30, 1942
Closed: July 16, 2007
Imploded: Nov. 13, 2007

THE STARDUST HOTEL

Opened: July 2, 1958
Closed: Nov. 1, 2006
Imploded: March 13, 2007

THE ALADDIN HOTEL

Opened: April 1, 1966
Closed: Nov. 25, 1997
Imploded: April 27, 1998

THE SANDS HOTEL

Opened: Dec. 15, 1952
Closed: June 30, 1996
Imploded: Nov. 26, 1996

THE LANDMARK HOTEL

Opened: July 1, 1969
Closed: Aug. 8, 1990
Imploded: Nov. 7, 1995

THE DUNES HOTEL

Opened: May 23, 1955
Closed: Jan. 26, 1993
Imploded: Oct. 27, 1993

 

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