Tropicana implosion paves way for proposed site of A's Las Vegas stadium
The Tropicana closed in April after 67 years to make room for a new baseball stadium for the relocating Oakland Athletics.
LAS VEGAS (KGO) -- The Tropicana Casino and Resort, one of the last true mob buildings on the Las Vegas Strip, was reduced to rubble Wednesday morning.
The Tropicana's hotel towers tumbled in a celebration that included a fireworks display. It was the first implosion in nearly a decade for a city that loves fresh starts and that has made casino implosions as much a part of its identity as gambling itself.
The implosion cleared land for the proposed $1.5 billion baseball stadium for the relocating Athletics, which is part of the city's latest rebrand into a sports hub.
In August, Steve Hill, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said he was optimistic three key documents needed to begin construction on a new stadium for the Athletics would be approved Dec. 5.
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The three documents that need to be approved for the planned 33,000-seat domed stadium on the Las Vegas Strip are the lease, non-relocation and development agreements. The lease agreement was presented Thursday without a vote.
However, there are no final renderings of the Las Vegas ballpark at this time.
A's owner John Fisher is also facing issues with his plan to relocate to Sacramento while he waits for his Vegas stadium to be built.
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To make Sacramento work, they will need to rip up the grass at Sutter Health Park and replace it with artificial turf. And between the A's and the Sacramento River Cats, they'll have to play 156 games over the year's hottest six months on that plastic, for a minimum of three years, in temperatures routinely exceeding 100 degrees.
Furthermore, the Major League Baseball Players Association has yet to approve the changes to Sutter Health Park.
With all that said, Fisher's A's hope to open their Las Vegas ballpark in time for the 2028 season.
ESPN's Tim Keown and the Associated Press contributed to this article.
