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One of Las Vegas’ oldest Strip casinos is closing its doors for good.
Tropicana Las Vegas is scheduled to close on Tuesday, two days shy of its 67th anniversary. Once a jewel on the Strip, this aging property has faded into obscurity in a sea of mega-resorts in recent decades.
Demolition is scheduled for later this year to make way for a new Major League Baseball stadium. Once Tropicana is gone, Sahara will be the only Strip resort left from the 1950s.
Michael Green, a history professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said the Tropicana’s demise is “sad for historians,” but it’s a departure for a city known for destroying history to make way for future projects. It’s not an unusual move.
“Hotels built in the 1950s were not designed for the 2020s,” Green told USA TODAY. The closing of the Tropicana “reflects the way Las Vegas is changing to catch up and stay ahead of other businesses. … Times have changed.”
“The city is changing”
The demolition was bittersweet for Antioco Carrillo, 56, a Las Vegas resident who worked in the facility’s kitchen when he was 20 years old. It was his first job in the state since he immigrated from Mexico in 1987.
Although the property has undergone renovations since she was an employee, Carrillo said she felt a sense of nostalgia as she and her husband walked through the grounds last weekend.
He took photos of the casino, the conference center, and the stained glass dome over the pool. When he first entered the resort, he recalled, it felt like a “city within a city” and he felt small. He remembered all of his former colleagues, a melting pot of employees from all over the world, he said.
“This property gave me the opportunity to live here,” he said. “But at the end of the day, the city is changing, so I think this is a positive move.”
First Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas in 70 years:Take a look at the property’s past
Once “one of the elite”
With a $15 million price tag, the Tropicana was the most expensive Las Vegas resort ever built when it opened in April 1957. Dubbed the “Tiffany of the Strip” after the famous jeweler, the 300-room property was considered a high-end resort. A luxurious hideaway.
At the time, it received critical acclaim from local media, with the Las Vegas sun shining down on the “fantastically beautiful” resort with its “colorful mosaic-tiled entrance” and spacious rooms, with Las Vegas Review calling the Tropicana ” I commented on it. “Quiet dignity.”
This resort has since become famous for its entertainment. This was a cabaret show imported from Paris that would go on to entertain magicians Siegfried and Roy as part of her Bergère show, which would continue to entertain tourists with topless showgirls for nearly 50 years. It was the first stage in Las Vegas where we performed. The facility’s Blue She Room was also a big draw, and featured jazz giants such as Louis She Armstrong.
Green said that in its early days, Tropicana was “one of the Strip’s elite,” but in addition to its entertainment, it was also “known for being opened by the mob.”
Organized crime connections are not uncommon in Las Vegas casinos, but the mob was bad at concealing its involvement at the Tropicana, Green said. Just a month after the facility’s grand opening, mobster Frank Costello was shot and killed in New York City. A piece of paper in his pocket showed the total winnings at the Tropicana casino, which linked him to skimming at the facility.
Since then, management has changed hands several times, with the most recent buyer, Bally’s, purchasing the property in 2022 for $148 million.
“I think part of[the hotel’s decline]was that ownership changed several times when other hotels didn’t. That meant a different approach, a different plan,” Green said. he said. “And it was surrounded by huge resorts. And in some ways, the company was not part of any of those companies, and while it had amenities, it didn’t have the same amenities as other companies, which made it unique. We were trying to establish a niche.”
Scheduled to be demolished in the fall
Tropicana’s gaming floor is scheduled to close at 3 a.m. Tuesday, and the food and beverage department is scheduled to close by noon, according to the property’s website. Preparations for the resort’s demolition will begin “immediately,” with a tentative demolition date scheduled for October.
“What they say is true. (Las Vegas) is not a sentimental city,” said UNLV history professor David Schwartz. “If they thought they could make the land better, they would do it.” he said.
Once the site is demolished, approximately 9 acres of land will be used as the Athletics’ new stadium. The MLB team currently playing at the Oakland Coliseum recently released renderings of the 33,000-seat stadium.
But the memories of the property live on.The Tropicana said on social media The project will work with UNLV, the Neon Museum, and the Showgirls Museum to “preserve artifacts and items of sentimental value within the Tropicana.” Additionally, real estate fans can purchase items such as guest room furniture, gaming stools, and linens at the estate’s pre-demolition liquidation sale.
“I think we’ve come to terms with the fact that we live in a city that’s pushing new things,” Carrillo said. “While we will be sad to see the hotel and the entire property disappear, we are excited to see the new opportunities this city will have.”
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