The iconic Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas will close its doors in a few weeks to make way for a new $1.5 billion baseball stadium for the Oakland Athletics.
The once-luxe Vegas hotel will close April 2 after 67 years in business — and with it will go a decadent history of mid-century glitz and glamour.
While parts of the 1,500-room hotel are manually removed, the landscape must be completely leveled – meaning the Tropicana faces implosion and will be demolished.
Arik Knowles, vice president and manager of Tropicana, said in a note to staff: “While this is a great opportunity for the company, it also comes with a bittersweet feeling as it means operations at Tropicana Las Vegas will be suspended due to redevelopment is discontinued.”
The Tropicana was once an icon on the Las Vegas Strip, but today it appears to have faded glory
The girls, all dancing at the Folies Bergere at the plush Hotel Tropicana in Las Vegas, are: Virginia Justus, the blonde; Lydia Torea, the redhead; and brunette Sharon Cunningham
Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fisher hold hands as they leave the Tropicana Night Club
The A's will now begin construction on their new baseball stadium at the Tropicana site in Las Vegas. Pictured: A rendering of what the ballpark will look like
The hotel first welcomed guests in 1957 as a Cuban-themed hotel that had little else to offer in Las Vegas at the time. The hotel is said to have been “famous since the day it opened.”
When the sensational hotel was first unveiled, the property featured a huge 60ft fountain – as the hotel was home to illusionists Siegfried and Roy.
A number of stars made films there – including Sean Connery's James Bond in Diamonds Are Forever and The Godfather Corleones.
Superstar Elizabeth Taylor was often a guest at the hotel – as were music legends Sammy Davis Jr., Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra.
The Tropicana became synonymous with the vibrancy of all that Vegas had to offer, with its Folies Bergère cabaret featuring feathered showgirls.
But decades have passed since the Tropicana's heyday and only a few customers still visit the dimly lit casino.
The Tropicana has been a historic part of the world-famous Las Vegas Strip since the 1960s
The Tropicana, an iconic 1957 Las Vegas Strip building, will be demolished to make way for a new Oakland Athletics baseball stadium. Above, seen in 1958
The hotel sits on a 35-acre site that will now be used for a $1.5 billion, 30,000-seat stadium
Last year, the Oakland Athletics reached an agreement to build a potential $1.5 billion stadium on the Tropicana hotel site on the Las Vegas Strip.
Bally's and Gaming & Leisure Properties will build a 30,000-seat stadium on the 35-acre site.
The project is expected to cost about $1.5 billion, and the A's are seeking nearly $400 million in public support from the Nevada Legislature.
Dave Kaval, president of the Oakland Athletics, previously said: “In order for us to build a baseball stadium on it, the entire site has to be clean.” There will be some kind of implosion.
“Some of it will be mined manually, but some will implode.” It will be a big celebration. “This will be the moment when people realize how big this is getting.”
Elizabeth Taylor congratulates Eddie Fisher backstage at the Tropicana after seeing his opening act in June 1958. The couple was married from May 1959 to March 1964
The hotel hosted illusionists Siegfried and Roy, who premiered their show at the hotel
If the Tropicana is torn down, part of Las Vegas' history will disappear, along with all the mid-century glamor that came with it
Kaval said of the designs for the new ballpark: “We want it to be intimate and make sure all the seats are close to the action.” That's an important part of creating a unique experience. They compete with television.
“It has to feel different.” “People don’t want to be left with a nosebleed.”
A description of the hotel's opening states: “Unlike many other Strip layouts, the Tropicana was designed and built as a resort hotel, not a casino and nightclub with adjoining rooms.”
“Wide, sweeping driveways lead to the hotel from the highways, close by is a sparkling fountain that stands 60 feet high, with water cascading into a radiant pool 100 feet in diameter.”
“Mosaic tile decorations flank the entrance, which is covered by an upward-curving canopy that stretches 40 feet and is 130 feet long.”
But there were also rumors from the start about gang connections to the facility.
The Follies Bergere became a legendary Vegas act for nearly 50 years
Vegas played host to legendary acts, including the Rat Pack led by Frank Sinatra, who put the city's name on the map. Sinatra is pictured performing in Las Vegas in August 1978
Actress Rhonda Fleming blossoms as a singer and dancer in the first nightclub performance of her career at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas. Pictured here in May 1957
Actress and model Kitty Dolan poolside at the Tropicana Hotel in 1958 in Las Vegas, Nevada
Sean Connery appears in a scene from the 1971 Bond film Diamond's Are Forever
Some of the showgirls who danced at the Folies Bergère cabaret are pictured at the hotel pool in January 1968
Like most hotels and casinos in Vegas, the Tropicana offers a wide selection of games to play
In 1967, Siegfried and Roy left Paris to become major players in Las Vegas, debuting at the Folies Bergere show at the Tropicana. The duo started 14th on the list and in 1978 they were the finalists.
In the 1970s, the Tropicana began to lose out to competitors such as Caesars Palace. In the late 1970s, the company was once again involved in mob activity and was exposed by an FBI investigation into Vegas casinos and the Mafia.
Joe Agosto, the owner of the Folies Bergere show, oversaw the siphoning of funds from the casino. Mitzi Stauffer Briggs owned the casino at the time and admitted years later that she realized she was a pawn.
The investigation and scandal led to the sale of the casino, and in the 1990s, part of the Tropicana property was sold to MGM to make way for the MGM Grand Casino – as modern casinos took over the Las Vegas Strip.
Comedian Joan Rivers and Folies Bergere cabaret performers attend the 1980 Best of Las Vegas Awards at the Tropicana Las Vegas
The ladies of the show prepare for their performance while applying makeup backstage
Singer Eddie Fisher holds hands with his actress fiancée Elizabeth Taylor, who wears a 50-diamond bracelet he gave her as an engagement gift and a huge diamond ring from her previous marriage, as he lounges in the lounge after his opening show at the Tropicana relaxed
100 showgirls from the Tropicana show “Follies Bergere” from the 1950s to the present pose on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas to celebrate Las Vegas' centennial in 2005
A view of the Tropicana Hotel sign featuring the Osmonds and Kelly Monteith on the Las Vegas Strip in November 1975
Actress and model Kitty Dolan at the Tropicana Hotel pool in 1958
Tropicana has seen several owners and changes to the structure over the years. In 2010, two wings of the hotel were demolished.
Today the owner is Bally's Corporation, which operates casinos in Vegas and around the world.
Tropicana is also known as a filming location for several films. In 1971, James Bond's Diamonds Are Forever used the casino for Sean Connery's Bond adventure in Las Vegas.
Viva Las Vegas and War of the Colossal Beast were also filmed at the casino.
Soo Kim, chairman of Bally's Corporation, said: “The Trop is obviously iconic, but in many ways it is economically obsolete. “It's literally part of the glitz and glamor of Vegas, but it hasn't been for decades.”