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Shop at Jay’s Market at 190 East Flamingo Road at the Koval Lane intersection east of the Strip.
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Story by Alan Snel Photos by Hugh Byrne
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — The historic Tropicana hotel-casino crashed to earth at 2:37 AM Wednesday, creating a cloud of dust and mound of rubble that the MLB Athletics hope will be cleared in the next few months to make way for a $1.5 billion domed stadium in 2028.
Powerful fireworks led off the explosives that A’s and Bally’s Corporation officials believe will pave the way for a 33,000-seat baseball stadium and new hotel facility at the iconic intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue.
The blast was so powerful that watchers felt waves of force go through their bodies.
It took a mere 22 seconds to level the 1957-circa Tropicana hotel-casino tower frames, ending an era of old-time Vegas gambling and entertainment.
It’s part of the evolution on the Strip, with a site plan being fashioned to include the A’s stadium and a hotel.
The company by the appropriate name of Going Going Gone Demolition imploded the two hotel structures.
Here’s how it looked two hours before implosion:
The A’s say they have the financing to build a stadium on only nine of the 35 acres under a three-way partnership between the MLB franchise, land owner/gambling real estate investor Gaming & Leisure Properties, Inc. and Bally’s Corporation, which owned the Tropicana.
In an interview with LVSportsBiz.com, Tropicana Las Vegas GM Arik Knowles said Bally’s and the A’s are working in a coordinated way to redevelop the site but it’s too early to show a site plan.
Knowles did say that the goal is build a new hotel property that could interact with the A’s stadium in much the same way Mandalay Bay works with the Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium and New York New York with T-Mobile Arena, where the NHL Vegas Golden Knights play.
He also said Tropicana Las Vegas very carefully removed the hotel’s famed ceiling and could possibly have it installed in the ballpark.
A’s owner John Fisher has not publicly disclosed his financing plan in a development proposal for the public Las Vegas Stadium Authority Board, which has a meeting set for 3 PM Oct, 17. Fisher has said he and his family have the money to build the stadium and would be entertain local investors. But the A’s owner said he’s ready to pay for the stadium even if he does not attract investors.
Fisher spoke at 2:32 AM before the 2:37 implosion.
Fisher thanked LVCVA head Steve Hill who “was there every step of the way.”
Fisher also thanked Gov. Joe Lombardo and the Nevada state legislature, which approved the $380 million stadium construction subsidy in June 2023 in a special sessio. Then the fireworks began, cutting short his speech.
Bally’s Corp. Chairman CEO Soo Kim said the Trop would be torn down even if there was no A’s stadium project. But it’s still too early for a site plan, he said.
For the Raiders stadium, which received a $750 million public subsidy to help build that domed stadium in 2020, the NFL team representatives presented a pie chart at every stadium board meeting that broke down the stadium construction funding sources. We have not seen that for the planned A’s stadium.
The A’s played their last game in Oakland Sept. 26 in a highly emotionally-charged game before thousands of heartbroken, angry and bitter Athletics fans.
The team will be now known as simply the “Athletics” while they play in a Triple-A minor league stadium in Sacramento in 2025, 2026 and 2027 while the baseball stadium is built on the nine-acre footprint at the 35-acre site on the Strip.
Debt-saddled Bally’s rents the land from Gaming & Leisure Properties Inc. , but it’s unclear what its plans are for the site. Bally’s acquired the Tropicana only three years ago.
Clark County Commissioner Jim Gibson voiced optimism that the special tax district enveloping the stadium’s nine-acre footprint will cover the debt payments on the $120 million in bonds that Clark County commissioners are expected to approve in 2025. The $120 million is part of the $380 million government assistance package to help the A’s build their stadium. An A’s representative said at a recent stadium board meeting that the team will use $350 million of the $380 million.
Even with the Trop’s implosion, A’s fans in the Bay area said Fisher failed at building a stadium at five different locations and remain skeptical that he will get the stadium built on the Strip. Conversely, officials like Hill and Gibson are boosters expressing confidence.
If a stadium is not built on the Strip, at least Las Vegas was treated to a hellacious fireworks show before the Trop’s two giant buildings came tumbling down.
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ADD: Two days later
This was a day later after the implosion: