Video of more implosions http://content.jwplatform.com/videos/thEMyAKW-3SSLL1M3.mp4
Chris Kudialis, Las Vegas Review-Journal · February 9, 2015 at 9:23 am
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Formerly known as the Royal Americana, Paddlewheel, Debbie Reynolds Hollywood Hotel and Greek Isles, the Clarion Hotel and Casino will be bid farewell with a spectacular implosion planned for early Tuesday morning.
Located at 205 Convention Center Drive, just off the Strip, the Clarion underwent several bankruptcies and closures during its 44-year-history, and it changed ownership at least five times through 2009.
Closed since Sept. 1, the hotel features more than 200 rooms and was the nation’s only Clarion to offer gaming. It’s the 13th valley hotel to be imploded and the first since New Frontier came crashing down in 2007.
Lorenzo Doumani, a Las Vegas developer, purchased the property in October for $22.5 million in cash. He won’t disclose his plans for replacing the Clarion but says both Tuesday’s implosion and his next project will be “outstanding.”
“It’s going to be something very unique that has a hotel component,” Doumani said. “And it might be taller than the Wynn.”
Doumani says his goal is to make Convention Center Drive the new prime area of the Strip. He says a proposed $2.5 billion expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center will help.
“Five years from now, this will be the largest spot in Vegas,” he said. “It’s going to be phenomenal, and I think it’ll really come into fashion.”
For Tuesday, Doumani picked two companies, Diversified Demolition and Controlled Demolition, to take down the building on his 6-acre lot. The Clarion will be imploded between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m., according to Clark County spokesman Dan Kulin.
Ken Mercurio, president of Diversified Demolition, also was involved in the Bourbon Street and Boardwalk implosions in 2006. Mercurio said spectators can expect two series of separate blasts before the Clarion implodes Tuesday.
“People always think the first blast doesn’t work, because the hotel doesn’t fall right away,” Mercurio explained. “But then we set off the second blasts, and gravity takes over from there.”
For Tuesday’s implosion to be postponed, sustained winds would need to reach at least 10 mph during the morning, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Don Berc in Las Vegas.
Though gusts could reach between 10 and 15 mph Monday night, sustained wind speeds are expected to drop to between 5 and 10 mph by morning, Berc said. Temperatures are predicted to be in the mid-to-high 50s. No rain is expected.
“It’s going to be pretty darn nice for this time of the year at that time of the night,” Berc said.
Starting at 11:30 p.m., Metro officers will close all roads located around the implosion site. Convention Center Drive, Kishner Drive, Debbie Reynolds Drive and Channel 8 Drive will reopen at 3:30 a.m., according to police.
Designated pedestrian “exclusion” locations will be made available in three locations: at the Las Vegas Convention Visitor Authority parking lot, about 1,000 feet east of the neighboring Las Vegas Marriott and about a block west of Sadie Lane, according to Mercurio. Pedestrian viewing zones will be clearly defined, and both Metro and demolition staff will be staffing viewing zone boundaries.
For easy entry and exit to viewing the implosion, spectators are encouraged to arrive early. While the implosion will last for only 10 seconds, traffic could be delayed for up to an hour, according to Mercurio.
“It’s going to be dusty, make no mistake about it.”
Contact Chris Kudialis at ckudialis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283. Follow @kudialisrj on Twitter.
HISTORY OF IMPLOSIONS
1. DUNES: Oct. 22, 1993
The first valley hotel to be imploded, the Dunes made way for the Bellagio resort, the world’s most expensive hotel project at the time.
2. LANDMARK: Nov. 7, 1995
The futuristic, space-themed Landmark was opened in 1969 and played host to dozens of famous entertainers — including Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Danny Thomas. It was imploded to make room for 2,000 new parking spaces at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
3. SANDS: Nov. 26, 1996
The Sands is perhaps most famous as birthplace of “The Rat Pack,” featuring Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford, in 1960. Entertainers often recorded live albums in the Sands’ famous Copa Room, and the resort also was featured in several movies — most famously “Ocean’s Eleven.” It was replaced by The Venetian.
4. HACIENDA: Jan. 1, 1997
The 1,500-room Hacienda saw its profits tumble as newer, glitzier resorts became the norm on the Strip. The New Year’s Day implosion was accompanied by a fireworks show. It was replaced by Mandalay Bay.
5. ALADDIN: April 27, 1998
Once named the Tally-Ho and King’s Crown, the Aladdin was a premier Strip resort with more than 1,000 rooms in the 1990s. It was imploded after 32 years to make room for a new hotel of the same name, which has since become Planet Hollywood.
6. EL RANCHO: Oct. 3, 2000
Located on the northern part of the Strip, El Rancho opened in 1948 as the Thunderbird. After closing in July 1992, the hotel sat empty for more than eight years before finally being imploded. It was replaced by Fontainebleau Las Vegas.
7. DESERT INN: Oct. 23, 2001
One of the first resorts on the Strip, the Desert Inn boasted an 18-hole golf course and performances from Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin and Tony Bennett. The Desert Inn was bought by Steve Wynn in 2000, closed, and imploded to make way for Wynn Las Vegas.
8. CASTAWAYS: Jan. 11, 2006
Known as the Showboat from 1954-2000, the casino was one of the valley’s premier locations for professional boxing, wrestling and bowling in the 1980s. Four years after a group of investors bought and renamed the property in 2000, Castaways went bankrupt. The land is owned by Station Casinos.
9. BOURBON STREET: Feb. 14, 2006
The small New Orleans-themed casino, originally known as the Shenandoah, changed hands at least seven times in its 26-year history. Harrah’s purchased the hotel in early 2005 before closing and imploding it in less than a year. The property remains an empty lot owned by TRB Flamingo LLC.
10. BOARDWALK: May 9, 2006
The Coney Island-themed Boardwalk hotel featured a roller coaster on the roof and a faux parachute drop. Originally a Holiday Inn, the hotel was purchased by MGM in 2000 but was soon closed and imploded to make room for CityCenter.
11. STARDUST: March 13, 2007
The Stardust was famous for its role in the movie “Casino.” It was also a popular destination for early Siegfried & Roy performances. Replaced by Echelon Place, which failed before opening when the 2008 recession gripped the gaming industry, the site was sold in 2013 to Malaysia-based Genting Barhad.
12. NEW FRONTIER: Nov. 13, 2007
One of the Strip’s oldest casinos, the hotel known as New Frontier had roots dating to the 1930s. The building was the site of Elvis Presley’s first Las Vegas performance in 1956. Australian billionaire James Packer bought the 35-acre site in August, and the company hopes to begin construction of a hotel-casino project later this year.
13. CLARION: scheduled for implosion Tuesday morning
Once owned and named after Debbie Reynolds, the Clarion changed hands at least six times and filed for several bankruptcies in its 44-year history. The hotel, along Convention Center Drive, is scheduled to be replaced by a new, “outstanding” hotel proposed by owner Lorenzo Doumani.
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