Sands implosion ensures Atlantic City spectators will have a blast
By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Published: Sunday, October 14, 2007
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The shell of the Sands building stands ready for implosion Tuesday in Atlantic City. It will take just seconds, but the casino's spectacular demise in a highly choreographed implosion is the latest must-see event in a tourist town that has always been concocting must-see events to draw visitors.
Staff photo by Ben Fogletto
<!-- Component: pressofatlanticcity : component/story/main_image.comp --><!-- Component: pressofatlanticcity : component/story/images_check.comp --> Click to see how the Sands will fall
View slideshow of past implosions ATLANTIC CITY - Andrea Edmonds had been keeping her suitcase packed and her husband on alert, telling him that he had better be ready to make a trip as soon as she received word.
For weeks, she wrote to newspapers, television stations and others hoping to find out the date of a once-in-a-lifetime event that would set her plans in motion.
Then it came: Oct. 18.
"The next thing I did was to call up the hotels," Edmonds said. "I decided to book a room at Caesars because it's so close to the Sands."
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<!-- Component: pressofatlanticcity : component/general/ads/button3.comp --> So Edmonds and her husband, Mike, will be making a six-hour drive this week from their central Massachusetts town of Northborough to watch the old Sands Casino Hotel be blown to smithereens at 9:30 p.m. Thursday. Although it will take just seconds to complete, the Sands' spectacular demise in a highly choreographed implosion is the latest must-see event in a tourist town that has always been concocting must-see events to draw visitors - visitors such as Andrea and Mike Edmonds.
"I am 62 years old and wish to see an implosion before I die. My husband, on the other hand, wishes to see olives pitted and stuffed," Edmonds cracked.
Tourists, high rollers and local folks will pack the Boardwalk, the casinos, the bars and even crowd onto boats moored just offshore to witness the Sands come down in grand style like so many of its elderly cousins on the Las Vegas Strip. Las Vegas has been perfecting the implosion hoopla for years, but this will be the first time Atlantic City demolishes an old casino this way.
"I think an implosion is something that certainly fascinates people. I think it's going to be a great event," said Jeffrey Vasser, executive director of the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority. "I think from an economic standpoint, having an influx of people midweek is going to be tremendous. We're certainly looking at it as another reminder to folks that Atlantic City is looking to reinvent itself."
Las Vegas gaming company Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. is redeveloping the Sands site for a $1.5 billion casino that will be among three new megaresorts expected to redefine the Atlantic City skyline dramatically within the next five years. Revel Entertainment Group is building a $2 billion project next to Showboat Casino Hotel, while MGM Mirage is planning a mammoth $4.5 billion to $5 billion development in the Marina District adjacent to Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.
The tiny Sands, dating to 1980, represented the early generation of gaming halls following the advent of casino gambling in 1978. While the implosion is sure to be greeted with wild cheers, some people have fond memories of the Sands and will be more reserved in their celebration.
"I liked the Sands. It was a nice little boutique casino. Small and very friendly," said Toni Bojarczuk, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y. "It will be sad seeing one of the old casinos go, but I won't shed any tears."
The implosion will be a family outing for Bojarczuk and her husband, Nestor, and two other couples from New York state. They plan to arrive on Wednesday to give them a full day to scout out the best place to watch the Sands get blasted by 400 pounds of dynamite.
"We thought we would bring some chairs and maybe camp out on the Boardwalk," Bojarczuk joked.
For Bojarczuk, the implosion holds the thrill of seeing a 21-story hotel tower come tumbling down in the middle of town, just across the street from the Claridge Casino Hotel and Bally's Atlantic City.
"You always see them on TV. It will be nice to see one live," she said. "I wonder how they're going to do it. It's so close to the Claridge and Bally's, so I'm curious how they're going to do that."
At the Sands, the 15th story will be the highest floor rigged with explosives. The 23-story Claridge, a stately red-brick building that began as an elegant hotel in the 1920s, is the closest major landmark to the Sands. Most of the Claridge hotel rooms facing the Sands will be closed off for safety, but the 18th floor and higher will be far enough above the blast and will remain open, officials said.
"I would imagine they're going to have a great view," Jim Santoro, project manager for implosion contractor Controlled Demolition Inc., said of the bird's eye view for Claridge guests.
Some of the neighboring casinos are throwing high-roller parties to capitalize on the event. Bally's will use two restaurants on the sixth floor and its pool and spa area as a viewing platform for the implosion, spokeswoman Alyce Parker said.
In a bit of nostalgia, Resorts Atlantic City has invited a group of gamblers dominated by former Sands high rollers to a party on a 13th floor veranda overlooking the implosion site.
"This will be predominantly former Sands customers looking for a little bit of closure," said Steve Callender, senior vice president of operations at Resorts. "I think it was a good fit. One of the things they talked about was seeing this happen."
Local noncasino businesses also will get in on the act. Atlantic City Cruises will set sail out of Gardner's Basin for an "implosion cruise" that will anchor close to shore for the big event. Demand was so strong that Atlantic City Cruises added a second boat after the first one quickly sold out, a company spokeswoman said.
Maloney's, a tavern on Tennessee Avenue, has hired a DJ and will have food and drink specials during a rooftop party to celebrate the implosion.
At Maloney's and other spots in town, no doubt there will be many farewell toasts to the Sands.
By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Published: Sunday, October 14, 2007
<!-- Component: pressofatlanticcity : component/story/images_check.comp --> <!-- Component: pressofatlanticcity : component/story/main_image.comp -->
The shell of the Sands building stands ready for implosion Tuesday in Atlantic City. It will take just seconds, but the casino's spectacular demise in a highly choreographed implosion is the latest must-see event in a tourist town that has always been concocting must-see events to draw visitors.
Staff photo by Ben Fogletto
<!-- Component: pressofatlanticcity : component/story/main_image.comp --><!-- Component: pressofatlanticcity : component/story/images_check.comp --> Click to see how the Sands will fall
View slideshow of past implosions ATLANTIC CITY - Andrea Edmonds had been keeping her suitcase packed and her husband on alert, telling him that he had better be ready to make a trip as soon as she received word.
For weeks, she wrote to newspapers, television stations and others hoping to find out the date of a once-in-a-lifetime event that would set her plans in motion.
Then it came: Oct. 18.
"The next thing I did was to call up the hotels," Edmonds said. "I decided to book a room at Caesars because it's so close to the Sands."
<!-- Component: pressofatlanticcity : component/general/ads/button3.comp -->
"I am 62 years old and wish to see an implosion before I die. My husband, on the other hand, wishes to see olives pitted and stuffed," Edmonds cracked.
Tourists, high rollers and local folks will pack the Boardwalk, the casinos, the bars and even crowd onto boats moored just offshore to witness the Sands come down in grand style like so many of its elderly cousins on the Las Vegas Strip. Las Vegas has been perfecting the implosion hoopla for years, but this will be the first time Atlantic City demolishes an old casino this way.
"I think an implosion is something that certainly fascinates people. I think it's going to be a great event," said Jeffrey Vasser, executive director of the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority. "I think from an economic standpoint, having an influx of people midweek is going to be tremendous. We're certainly looking at it as another reminder to folks that Atlantic City is looking to reinvent itself."
Las Vegas gaming company Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. is redeveloping the Sands site for a $1.5 billion casino that will be among three new megaresorts expected to redefine the Atlantic City skyline dramatically within the next five years. Revel Entertainment Group is building a $2 billion project next to Showboat Casino Hotel, while MGM Mirage is planning a mammoth $4.5 billion to $5 billion development in the Marina District adjacent to Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.
The tiny Sands, dating to 1980, represented the early generation of gaming halls following the advent of casino gambling in 1978. While the implosion is sure to be greeted with wild cheers, some people have fond memories of the Sands and will be more reserved in their celebration.
"I liked the Sands. It was a nice little boutique casino. Small and very friendly," said Toni Bojarczuk, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y. "It will be sad seeing one of the old casinos go, but I won't shed any tears."
The implosion will be a family outing for Bojarczuk and her husband, Nestor, and two other couples from New York state. They plan to arrive on Wednesday to give them a full day to scout out the best place to watch the Sands get blasted by 400 pounds of dynamite.
"We thought we would bring some chairs and maybe camp out on the Boardwalk," Bojarczuk joked.
For Bojarczuk, the implosion holds the thrill of seeing a 21-story hotel tower come tumbling down in the middle of town, just across the street from the Claridge Casino Hotel and Bally's Atlantic City.
"You always see them on TV. It will be nice to see one live," she said. "I wonder how they're going to do it. It's so close to the Claridge and Bally's, so I'm curious how they're going to do that."
At the Sands, the 15th story will be the highest floor rigged with explosives. The 23-story Claridge, a stately red-brick building that began as an elegant hotel in the 1920s, is the closest major landmark to the Sands. Most of the Claridge hotel rooms facing the Sands will be closed off for safety, but the 18th floor and higher will be far enough above the blast and will remain open, officials said.
"I would imagine they're going to have a great view," Jim Santoro, project manager for implosion contractor Controlled Demolition Inc., said of the bird's eye view for Claridge guests.
Some of the neighboring casinos are throwing high-roller parties to capitalize on the event. Bally's will use two restaurants on the sixth floor and its pool and spa area as a viewing platform for the implosion, spokeswoman Alyce Parker said.
In a bit of nostalgia, Resorts Atlantic City has invited a group of gamblers dominated by former Sands high rollers to a party on a 13th floor veranda overlooking the implosion site.
"This will be predominantly former Sands customers looking for a little bit of closure," said Steve Callender, senior vice president of operations at Resorts. "I think it was a good fit. One of the things they talked about was seeing this happen."
Local noncasino businesses also will get in on the act. Atlantic City Cruises will set sail out of Gardner's Basin for an "implosion cruise" that will anchor close to shore for the big event. Demand was so strong that Atlantic City Cruises added a second boat after the first one quickly sold out, a company spokeswoman said.
Maloney's, a tavern on Tennessee Avenue, has hired a DJ and will have food and drink specials during a rooftop party to celebrate the implosion.
At Maloney's and other spots in town, no doubt there will be many farewell toasts to the Sands.
