Landmark hotel and Implosions
The Landmark hotel began construction in 1961, but due to financial difficulties was not opened until July 1st, 1969 after it had been bought and completed by Howard Huges. At opening, it featured 512 rooms and a revolving lounge atop a 31-story tower inside a cylindrical UFO-like dome. The tower appeared in 1971 in the James Bond film Diamonds are Forever.
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By the 1980's the hotel and casino could not keep up with the rapidly expanding Las Vegas strip and closed its doors on August 8th, 1990. It was demolished on November 7th, 1995 to make way for parking and other facilities for the Las Vegas Convention Center. The footage from the implosion was used in the movie Mars Attacks!
The Landmark Hotel implosion was just one of many in a long line of hotel and other property demolitions to make way for an ever-growing and rapidly evolving Las Vegas. Here are some of the more notable implosions to occur in Vegas:
​The Dunes Hotel and Casino
Opened: May 23, 1955
Implosion Date: October 27, 1993
Replaced by: Bellagio
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The Sands Hotel and Casino
Opened: December 15, 1952
Implosion Date: November 26, 1996
Replaced by: The Venetian
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Hacienda Hotel and Casino
Opened: June 1956 (Hotel), October 17, 1956 (Casino)
Implosion Date: December 31, 1996
Replaced by: Mandalay Bay
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Aladdin Hotel and Casino
Opened: April 1, 1966
Implosion Date: April 27, 1998
Replaced by: Aladdin (newer), later becoming Planet Hollywood
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El Rancho Hotel and Casino
Opened: April 1, 1941
Implosion Date: October 3, 2000
Replaced by: The Fontainebleau
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Desert Inn Hotel and Casino
Opened: April 24, 1950
Implosion Date: October 23, 2001 (and the remaining in 2004)
Replaced by: The Wynn
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Showboat Hotel and Casino
Opened: September 3, 1954 (as Castaways in 2000)
Implosion Date: January 11, 2006
Replaced by: Initially after demolition it was left as vacant land owned by Station Casinos, using a loophole in the law that allows a gaming license to be renewed as long as there is a casino on the property that's been opened to the public for at least 8 hours every two years, they used a portable casino to retain the license and thus the value of the land. Eventually, in 2021 the Showboat Park Apartments were opened on the property as well as a storage facility and health district building, and recently the last 5 acres we're filled with the Wilefire Casino.
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Boardwalk Hotel and Casino
Opened: September 3, 1965
Implosion Date: May 9, 2006
Replaced by: The CityCenter
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Stardust Resort and Casino
Opened: July 2, 1958
Implosion Date: March 13, 2007
Replaced by: Resorts World
Last Frontier Hotel and Silver Slipper Casino
Opened: October 30, 1942 (and re-opened as the New Frontier in 1955, and back to the Frontier in 1967)
Implosion Date: November 13, 2007 (The last of the Huges-era casinos to be demolished, the Silver Slipper was demolished in 1988)
Replaced by: Lot still vacant as of 2024
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The Riviera Hotel and Casino
Opened: April 20, 1955
Implosion Date: June 14, 2016 and August 16, 2016
Replaced by: Expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center
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Royal Inn Hotel and Casino (later Royal Americana, the Paddlewheel, the Debbie Reynolds Hollywood Hotel, the Greek Isles and finally Clarion)
Opened: 1970
Implosion Date: February 10, 2015
Replaced by: Slated for Majestic Las Vegas