The iconic Riviera Hotel and Casino has gone?out with a bang. The defunct casino has sat empty for some time on the Las Vegas Strip and has now been fully removed to make way for a new convention center expansion. The final tower of the venue, the Monte Carlo, was taken down in the early morning hours with much less fanfare than the Monaco tower back in June.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is planning the expansion of the convention center and will be using the area in which the Riviera was located to do so. The casino had closed back in 2015 after begin open for 60 years. The Riviera was an iconic casino on the strip, known for hosting such headliners as Dean Martin and Liberace. At one time, the Riviera was the place to be when visiting Las Vegas.
Business owners and residents in the area were told to stay inside or leave the area when the implosion took place at 2:30 am this morning. Dust would be an issue from when the implosion happened as well as up to 30 minutes after. With the Monte Carlo tower, there seemed to be less excitement than when the Monaco went down, with no fireworks or formal events planned during the implosion. However, the public could still watch as the iconic tower came down.