The New Frontier casino-hotel was imploded early today, giving a violent end to the second property to open on the Las Vegas Strip. The 16-story hotel tower was felled with over 1,000 pounds of explosives before a group of reporters and bystanders to make way for a multibillion-dollar resort bearing The Plaza brand, which is set to open in 2011.
The destruction of the New Frontier was the latest step in a dramatic, and expensive, facelift for the northern Strip. The Stardust hotel-casino was imploded in March.
The Last Frontier was the second hotel-casino to open on the Strip, and over its 65 years it played host to such entertainers as Ronald Reagan, Wayne Newton and Siegfried & Roy. Elvis Presley performed for the first time in Las Vegas at the resort in 1956. Billionaire Howard Hughes once owned it, and Wynn's purchase of a minority stake in the 1960s in exchange for heading up the slot and keno departments sparked his career as a casino magnate.
Source: Reuters / Updated: Nov 13, 2007
The destruction of the New Frontier was the latest step in a dramatic, and expensive, facelift for the northern Strip. The Stardust hotel-casino was imploded in March.
The Last Frontier was the second hotel-casino to open on the Strip, and over its 65 years it played host to such entertainers as Ronald Reagan, Wayne Newton and Siegfried & Roy. Elvis Presley performed for the first time in Las Vegas at the resort in 1956. Billionaire Howard Hughes once owned it, and Wynn's purchase of a minority stake in the 1960s in exchange for heading up the slot and keno departments sparked his career as a casino magnate.
Source: Reuters / Updated: Nov 13, 2007