How implosions made Las Vegas Strip what it is today
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LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — KLAS-TV has changed over its 70 years, and so has the thing Las Vegas is known for worldwide, the Las Vegas Strip. However, to create the Strip that we all know today it had to get rid of the old one.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, the Las Vegas Strip saw an implosion boom.
The Dunes was the 10th resort on the Strip when it opened in 1955 but in 1993 it was the first resort to get blown up and kick off a string of implosions.
When the Landmark went up in 1969, it was the tallest building in Nevada. In 1995, it came tumbling down to make room for an expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center. That iconic scene made it into the film “Mars Attacks.”
The Sands and then the Hacienda became piles of rubble and dust in 1996 after more than 40 years on the Strip.
The country couldn’t get enough of the implosions by then and the Hacienda’s demise was nationally televised.
Soon the genie was out of the bottle and the implosion of the Aladdin would round out the 90s. Planet Hollywood would go up in its place.
The new century kicked off with the implosion of what was the first full-service casino resort of the Strip, the El Rancho. That site had a run of bad luck but the Fountainbleau could open there soon.
The Desert Inn’s demolition was close behind and the Wynn and Encore now stand in its place.
Castaways, the Boardwalk, Stardust, and Frontier would all get blown up in quick succession in 2006 and 2007.
Then came a nearly decade-long lull as the dust settled. The last hotel and casino to be imploded was the Riviera in 2016, once again to make more room for the Las Vegas Convention Center.
In total, 14 casinos so far have given their lives to make way for the future.
