<aside class="ds-coll">
Related Stories:
Clarion prepares to crumble into history
Clarion slated for implosion in February
History of Implosions
1. Dunes: Oct. 22, 1993
2. Landmark: Nov. 7, 1995
3. Sands: Nov. 26, 1996
4. Hacienda: Jan. 1, 1997
5. Aladdin: April 27, 1998
6. El Rancho: Oct. 3, 2000
7. Desert Inn: Oct. 23, 2001
8. Castaways: Jan. 11, 2006
9. Bourbon Street: Feb. 14, 2006
10. Boardwalk: May 9, 2006
11. Stardust: March 13, 2007
12. New Frontier: Nov. 13, 2007
</aside>By CHRIS KUDIALIS
LAS VEGAS ***************
Crews have torn down a tower that was the last standing piece of the off-Strip Clarion Hotel and Casino, which was imploded during the wee hours of Tuesday morning.
A crane attached cables to the tower. The cables were linked to trucks on the ground that pulled down the tower.
Traffic in the area will be affected until work is done. Convention Center Drive is closed between Kishner and Debbie Reynolds drives.
Most of the Clarion came down as planned, sending up a cloud of dust as the 44-year-old resort came down. Only the partial remains of an elevator shaft/stairwell remained.
After a mere 10 seconds, most of the 200-room hotel — the 13th casino resort imploded in the Las Vegas Valley — came down thanks to 1,100 tons of dynamite at 2:57 a.m.
Thom Doud, project manager of Controlled Demolition Inc., said the building collapsed too fast for the elevator tower and staircase to fall with it.
“Basically, the debris fell so fast, it choked the base of that tower and didn’t give it the opportunity to move,” Doud said.
That wasn’t the only blunder. The implosion itself was delayed nearly 30 minutes after several residents of a neighboring condominium building refused to leave.
It took a visit from Las Vegas police, who arrived shortly after the 2:30 a.m. scheduled implosion time, to evacuate the building. Nobody was cited, according to Metro spokeswoman Officer Laura Meltzer.
The 6-acre site, at 205 Convention Center Dr., had also been known as the Royal Americana, Paddlewheel, Debbie Reynolds Hollywood Hotel and Greek Isles during its four decades just off the Strip. It underwent several bankruptcies and closures and at least five ownership changes through 2009.
Las Vegas developer Lorenzo Doumani, who bought the Clarion in October for $22.5 million, took Tuesday’s complications in stride.
Controlled Demolition Inc.’s previous implosions had gone off without a hitch, Doumani said.
“They said they had a perfect record since 1957, and looks like the Clarion/Debbie Reynolds broke the streak,” Doumani said. “No. 13.”
Closed since Sept. 1, the hotel will be replaced by a “unique” development, Doumani said. He declined to offer further detail.
At Tuesday’s implosion, orange and yellow-vested demolition workers wore hard hats and dust masks.
No air quality advisory was in effect, according to Clark County spokesman Dan Kulin.
Spectators said the collapse brought feelings of appreciation and nostalgia.
Arnie Bartz, a retired Air Force engineer, came to Las Vegas in 1970, the year the hotel opened. The 82-year-old worked there in the mid-1990s when stage and film performer Debbie Reynolds, now also in her 80s, ran the place.
Reynolds, who rose to fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood in such films as “Singin’ in the Rain” and has lived and worked off-and-on in Las Vegas for 60 years, was Bartz’s childhood crush.
“Very fond memories here,” Bartz said. “I watched it grow.”
Rosemarie Warner, a 20-year Las Vegas resident, worked at the hotel, then known as the Greek Isles, for nearly seven years in the 2000s.
Having worked at now-closed resorts on the Strip for much of her time in the valley, seeing the Clarion go touched a soft spot. Watching the implosion with her brother, Warner said the sight brought tears to her eyes.
“I met my husband there, and ended up with a big career there,” Warner said. “It was the best place I’ve worked in Las Vegas.”
Related Stories:
Clarion prepares to crumble into history
Clarion slated for implosion in February
History of Implosions
1. Dunes: Oct. 22, 1993
2. Landmark: Nov. 7, 1995
3. Sands: Nov. 26, 1996
4. Hacienda: Jan. 1, 1997
5. Aladdin: April 27, 1998
6. El Rancho: Oct. 3, 2000
7. Desert Inn: Oct. 23, 2001
8. Castaways: Jan. 11, 2006
9. Bourbon Street: Feb. 14, 2006
10. Boardwalk: May 9, 2006
11. Stardust: March 13, 2007
12. New Frontier: Nov. 13, 2007
</aside>By CHRIS KUDIALIS
LAS VEGAS ***************
Crews have torn down a tower that was the last standing piece of the off-Strip Clarion Hotel and Casino, which was imploded during the wee hours of Tuesday morning.
A crane attached cables to the tower. The cables were linked to trucks on the ground that pulled down the tower.
Traffic in the area will be affected until work is done. Convention Center Drive is closed between Kishner and Debbie Reynolds drives.
Most of the Clarion came down as planned, sending up a cloud of dust as the 44-year-old resort came down. Only the partial remains of an elevator shaft/stairwell remained.
After a mere 10 seconds, most of the 200-room hotel — the 13th casino resort imploded in the Las Vegas Valley — came down thanks to 1,100 tons of dynamite at 2:57 a.m.
Thom Doud, project manager of Controlled Demolition Inc., said the building collapsed too fast for the elevator tower and staircase to fall with it.
“Basically, the debris fell so fast, it choked the base of that tower and didn’t give it the opportunity to move,” Doud said.
That wasn’t the only blunder. The implosion itself was delayed nearly 30 minutes after several residents of a neighboring condominium building refused to leave.
It took a visit from Las Vegas police, who arrived shortly after the 2:30 a.m. scheduled implosion time, to evacuate the building. Nobody was cited, according to Metro spokeswoman Officer Laura Meltzer.
The 6-acre site, at 205 Convention Center Dr., had also been known as the Royal Americana, Paddlewheel, Debbie Reynolds Hollywood Hotel and Greek Isles during its four decades just off the Strip. It underwent several bankruptcies and closures and at least five ownership changes through 2009.
Las Vegas developer Lorenzo Doumani, who bought the Clarion in October for $22.5 million, took Tuesday’s complications in stride.
Controlled Demolition Inc.’s previous implosions had gone off without a hitch, Doumani said.
“They said they had a perfect record since 1957, and looks like the Clarion/Debbie Reynolds broke the streak,” Doumani said. “No. 13.”
Closed since Sept. 1, the hotel will be replaced by a “unique” development, Doumani said. He declined to offer further detail.
At Tuesday’s implosion, orange and yellow-vested demolition workers wore hard hats and dust masks.
No air quality advisory was in effect, according to Clark County spokesman Dan Kulin.
Spectators said the collapse brought feelings of appreciation and nostalgia.
Arnie Bartz, a retired Air Force engineer, came to Las Vegas in 1970, the year the hotel opened. The 82-year-old worked there in the mid-1990s when stage and film performer Debbie Reynolds, now also in her 80s, ran the place.
Reynolds, who rose to fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood in such films as “Singin’ in the Rain” and has lived and worked off-and-on in Las Vegas for 60 years, was Bartz’s childhood crush.
“Very fond memories here,” Bartz said. “I watched it grow.”
Rosemarie Warner, a 20-year Las Vegas resident, worked at the hotel, then known as the Greek Isles, for nearly seven years in the 2000s.
Having worked at now-closed resorts on the Strip for much of her time in the valley, seeing the Clarion go touched a soft spot. Watching the implosion with her brother, Warner said the sight brought tears to her eyes.
“I met my husband there, and ended up with a big career there,” Warner said. “It was the best place I’ve worked in Las Vegas.”
4...It was my B-day..the wife went to bed...I'm playing til..7am
killin'....6k...take home
wife get's up and goes to the pool...
10am...I go down to meet her..still buzzed
she's talkin to 2 strangers...again not still on my game...(telling them how well I did last night)..wtf
anyway..
they stole her key...while we were down there....
went up there 1 hour later...the place was fvcked up...
they didn't steal my cc's or the ckeckbook...they did steal 4k of the 6k from the night before...(had the rest hidden)
anyway..called those fvckin' useless metro fvcks....zero help...
Hotel comped....everything after that...and gave us the suite and 1k free chips...(which I lost, hahaha)
so ...I found these fuclkin' thieves 2 days later..
grab her In the middle of the casino...start yelling ...metro shows..and want to take me down....f-o
killin'....6k...take home
wife get's up and goes to the pool...
10am...I go down to meet her..still buzzed
she's talkin to 2 strangers...again not still on my game...(telling them how well I did last night)..wtf
anyway..
they stole her key...while we were down there....
went up there 1 hour later...the place was fvcked up...
they didn't steal my cc's or the ckeckbook...they did steal 4k of the 6k from the night before...(had the rest hidden)
anyway..called those fvckin' useless metro fvcks....zero help...
Hotel comped....everything after that...and gave us the suite and 1k free chips...(which I lost, hahaha)
so ...I found these fuclkin' thieves 2 days later..
grab her In the middle of the casino...start yelling ...metro shows..and want to take me down....f-o
