Tropicana shutters to make room for A’s stadium in 2028
LAS VEGAS — In the 1971 film “Diamonds Are Forever,” James Bond stays in a swanky suite at the Tropicana Las Vegas.
“I hear that the Hotel Tropicana is quite comfortable,” Agent 007 says.
It was the Tropicana’s heyday. The lavish casino was a frequent haunt of the legendary Rat Pack, while its past under the mob cemented its place in Vegas lore.
But after welcoming guests for 67 years, the doors to the Las Vegas Strip’s third-oldest casino were chained shut Tuesday with demolition slated for October to make room for a $1.5 billion Major League Baseball stadium for the relocating Oakland A’s that is expected to open in 2028 — part of the city’s latest rebrand as a hub for sports entertainment.
“It’s time. It’s ran its course,” Charlie Granado, a bartender at the Tropicana for 38 years, said of the casino’s closure. “It makes me sad but on the other hand, it’s a happy ending.”
The population of Clark
County, which includes Las Vegas, had just surpassed 100,000 when the Tropicana opened on the Strip surrounded by vast, open desert. It cost $15 million to build three stories with 300 rooms split into two wings.
Its manicured lawns and elegant showroom earned it the nickname “Tiffany of the Strip.”
Black and white photographs from that time give a view into what it was like inside the Tropicana at its height, when it frequently hosted A-list stars in its showroom — from Elizabeth Taylor and Debbie Reynolds to Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr.
In a city known for reinvention, the Tropicana underwent changes as Las Vegas evolved. Two hotel towers were added in later years. In 1979, a $1 million stained glass ceiling was installed above the casino floor. There was also the 1980s rebrand as “The Island of Las Vegas,” with a swim-up blackjack table at the pool, and the South Beach-themed renovation completed in 2011.
Today, only the low-rise hotel room wings remain of the original Tropicana structure.
Behind the scenes of the casino’s opening decades ago, the Tropicana had ties to organized crime, largely through reputed mobster Frank Costello.
Weeks after the grand opening, Costello was fatally shot in New York. Police found in his coat pocket a piece of paper with the Tropicana’s earnings figure. The note also mentioned “money to be skimmed” for Costello’s associates, according to a post on The Mob Museum’s website looking back on the Tropicana’s history.
But the famed hotelcasino also saw many years of mob-free success. It was home to the city’s longest running show, “Folies Bergere.” The topless revue, imported from Paris, featured what is now one of the most recognizable Las Vegas icons: the feathered showgirl.
During its nearly 50-year run, “Folies Bergere” featured elaborate costumes and stage sets, original music that at one time was played by a live orchestra, line dancers, magic shows, acrobats and comedy.