One of Las Vegas' monuments is mo more. The Stardust hotel and casino was demolished on Tuesday in order to make room for Echelon, Boyd Gaming Corp.'s $4.4 billion mega casino resort.
Boyd's chairman Bill Boyd's four grandsons were the one to set off the detonations that caused the stardust to implode, leaving a massive dust cloud in the area.
The implosion transformed a 32-story tower, which had been reduced to concrete and steel over the past three months, into the tallest building that was ever demolished on the Las Vegas Strip.
To implode the Stardust's two towers, 428 pounds of explosives were used. Twenty water cannons sprayed the dust cloud, which covered the area. The demolition also caused a temporary shut down of the streets close to the site. The clean up of the site is expected to take up to two months.
The Stardust casino opened July 2, 1958. It was Las Vegas' first mass-market casino, thanks to cheap rates and free food and drinks.
Bob Boughner, Echelon Resorts' chief executive, said that even though the Stardust was very popular among older gamblers, it was missing out on younger customers and businessmen who come to Las Vegas for conventions.
Email this page
Print this page
Bookmark with del.icio.us
