Tropicana’s implosion set for fall, making way for A’s ballpark

Clark County has approved a commercial demolition permit application for Tropicana owner Bally’s Corp. that values the hotel’s implosion at $15 million.

The permit application was filed April 11 and approved April 20. Bally’s has until Oct. 20 to carry out the demolition, according to county records. The permit is ready to be issued, pending Bally’s paying over $48,000 in fees associated with the application.

Plans call for the Rat Pack-era hotel to be brought down to make way for future development on the site, including the Oakland Athletics’ planned $1.5 billion, 33,000-seat ballpark.

Bally’s Chairman Soo Kim told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Wednesday that the company is planning for a September or October implosion of the property. But that is dependent on demolition company GGG Demolition Inc. obtaining the proper permits.

“There are some preconditions that have to be met that they are working on,” Kim said in an email to the Review-Journal. “If not that, either way it will be done.”

Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. owns the land the Tropicana sits on, while Bally’s owns the Tropicana and pays GLPI a ground lease. GLPI has pledged $175 million toward shared costs on demolition and construction of the A’s ballpark. Kim noted that the $15 million demolition fee will be covered by that funding.

The Tropicana closed its doors on April 2, just shy of its 67th birthday, to start preparing the site for demolition.

The A’s stadium is scheduled to be constructed on 9 acres of the 35-acre site. Bally’s plans to construct a new resort on the remaining acreage at a later date.

Liquidators have been at work clearing out the property since early April. International Content Liquidations, a Dayton, Ohio-based company, is responsible for selling items from roughly 1,800 hotel rooms and suites, about a dozen food and beverage outlets and the resort’s pool and conference center — including the theater’s chairs and doors. But the sales are appointment-only; a public sale is expected at a later date, according to ICL communications.

With construction on the ballpark planned to start in April 2025, the A’s are working on agreements that are required to be approved by the Las Vegas Stadium Authority.

A community benefits agreement has been approved by the stadium authority, with the development, non-relocation and lease agreements left to be approved, before public funding can be made available and construction can commence.

Last summer, Senate Bill 1 was signed into law by Gov. Joe Lombardo earmarking up to $380 million in public funding for the ballpark project.

The next scheduled meeting of the stadium authority is set for May 16, when drafts of any of the three remaining agreements could be presented, Steve Hill, stadium authority chair, said at March’s meeting.

With their lease at the Oakland Coliseum expiring at the end of the year and an extension unable to be agreed to with Bay Area officials, the A’s will play in Sacramento during the 2025-2027 MLB seasons. Plans call for the A’s to kick off their time in Las Vegas at their new Strip ballpark in 2028.

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X. Staff Writer McKenna Ross contributed to this story.