Tropicana implosion set for 9 October
The implosion is set for 2.30am local time and will be preceded by fireworks and a drone show, according to Fox 5 Vegas. Bally’s purchased the casino in 2022.
The property will be replaced with a new casino resort and a ballpark for Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Athletics. The team, currently based in Oakland, is playing its last season at the Coliseum before moving to Sacramento until 2027. From there it will move to a new 33,000-seat baseball stadium on the Las Vegas Strip in 2028.
MLB is the third major professional league to put a team in Las Vegas. Since 2016, the NHL (Golden Knights) and NFL (Raiders) have also either expanded or moved teams there.
The Tropicana, built in the 1950s and long a Las Vegas icon, closed on 2 April. A demolition permit was issued later that month. Both the Tropicana Club and Paradise Tower are scheduled to be imploded.
Implosions aren’t new to Las Vegas, but the Tropicana will be the first hotel to fall since 2007. That year, the New Frontier (13 November) and the Stardust (13 March) were imploded. The Stardust, along with the 2001 implosion of the Desert Inn and the 1996 implosion of the Sands, were among the most significant in terms of physical and sentimental changes to the Strip.
Chicago demolition started
Bally’s, which recently agreed to a buyout from Standard General, has multiple casino projects going on at the same time. On the same day that the planned Tropicana implosion became public, Bally’s began demolition on its Chicago casino site. It is also doing construction at a site in New York. The company is among 11 bidding for three downstate casino licences there. Bids for that project are due by June 2025 and licences will be awarded by the end of 2025.
In Chicago, Bally’s is planning a casino, a 34-storey, 500-room hotel tower, a 3,000-seat theatre and a public park. The project is being financed in part by Gaming and Leisure Properties (GLPI), which also has a stake in the Las Vegas project. Bally’s is planning to open its permanent casino in Chicago in September 2026.