An Iconic Property on the Las Vegas Strip is About to Become Dust
Updated 10/8/24
Sin City is making some big changes. This week, the famous Tropicana Resort will be shut down for good and is scheduled to be demolished on October 9. The building is going down to make way for a new ballpark for the Major League Baseball team the A’s. After Tropicana is gone, there will be only one resort left on the strip that dates back to the 1950s: The Flamingo, which actually opened in 1946.
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Tropicana opened about a decade later in 1957 and at the time, it was the most expensive resort built in Las Vegas, created for $15 million. For decades, it was the most glitzy and luxurious spot you could book and tourists flocked there to see the Folies Bergère cabaret featuring topless showgirls, jazz musicians, and later magicians Siegfried and Roy and is still the longest running show in Vegas history. A scene from the James Bond film Diamonds are Forever even shows Bond in the hotel plus The Godfather and Viva Las Vegas. The elegance seen there got the Tropicana the nickname the “Tiffany of the Strip.” Plus one time resident Eddie Fisher married Elizabeth Taylor there after his marriage from Debbie Reynolds dissolved.
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However, it wasn’t always glitz and glam for the Tropicana. At the time of its opening, there were mob connections and an FBI investigation in 1979 found a skimming operation. Over the years, the resort went through many ownership changes, some for the better and some for the worse. During one ownership change in the 2000s, the Tropicana was almost demolished to make way for a new resort, but obviously, this never happened. In 2011, it went through a major renovation, spending $180 million to make updates and add a South Beach theme. Despite any updates, it continued to have that nostalgic casino and hotel vibe.
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Michael Green, an author and professor who specializes in the history of Las Vegas, admitted, “One of the things we’ve had to reconcile with ourselves still is that people do not come to the Strip looking for that past. They come here looking for all the bells and whistles that tourists look for these days.” He added, “It speaks to how Las Vegas has really just become a lot like anywhere else, truthfully. When the Tropicana opened, this was the only state in the country where you could legally gamble in a casino. Today, almost every state has some form of gambling. Betting on sports is legal.”
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If you were a fan of the historic hotel, you could potentially own a piece of it! Fans can purchase items from inside the hotel including furniture and even doors. You can call International Content Liquidations at 702-933-9540 to set up an appointment if you’re interested.
The new ballpark is expected to be ready in 2028 and The A’s will become Nevada’s first major league team. As for that famed stained glass ceiling? It was carefully removed and put into storage for now.
The Tropicana will be getting imploded on October 9 at around 2 am PT. Meanwhile, it is now up in the air if the Oakland A’s will indeed be building a stadium there. For information on how to watch the implosion click here. If you happen to see it happen in person let us know in the comments!
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