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   Tropicana News
      This page was updated 2/6/08
       

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This page celebrates the reinventing of the Tropicana Hotel and Casino.  Unlike her long-gone sisters, the Trop will remain the Trop, albeit with four added towers (which include over 10,000 rooms) and completely gutted and rebuilt public spaces. 

We will track her progress and share historic photos and facts of the ol' lady during this, her 50th year.


New Model 2/6/08

     

The new model is quite a bit more refined than the earlier rendering (below).
In this model, the Tiffany Tower is still there and the Paradise Tower is removed.
Also missing is the beloved outdoor pool oasis (huh???). The towers in the new model are more
visually pleasing and complementary to each other and the Strip corner has been
completely redesigned. Columbia Sussex has not commented on the status of this project.
 


Early Renderings

This (below-left) is the first rendering of the proposed expansion of the Tropicana. These plans are sure to change (see above), but the overall layout of a cluster of six towers, totaling 10,244 rooms is fairly certain.

Notice the existing towers are still in the plans and dwarfed by the new towers. Also notice the (long gone) flower sculpture (below) is back on the corner (reinvented).


 


Tropicana News and Views

NEWS 7/17/07   Renovation plans on hold until 2008 due to a volatile debt market and rising construction costs.

NEWS 4/4/07   The Tropicana celebrates her 50th birthday. "Happy Birthday baby, and many many more".

NEWS 12/26/06   Columbia Sussex, the new owners of the Tropicana, announced a $2.5-billion plan for the ageing, 34-acre property. The plan is to keep the most of existing towers, giving them interior and exterior renovations. They will also build four more towers; two of them for the Trop, another for a new hotel (which will have a different hotel brand), and the fourth a condo-hotel. In all, the complex will boast 10,224-rooms. A 645,000-sq. ft. convention center, 273,000 sq. ft. of retail space and new 85,460-sq. ft. casino are also part of the plans.

The Tropicana will remain open during the process, with sections being renovated. Columbia Sussex wants to keep the Tropicana a mid-roller, mid-priced establishment, unlike most of the new high-end projects in Las Vegas.

NEWS 5/19/06   After a prolonged bidding war, Aztar was purchased by Columbia Sussex, which obtained Aztar's five casinos (including the Tropicana) for $2.75 billion, in an all-cash transaction (including $676 million of debt assumption) valued at $54 a share.

 

 

A Brief History



The Tropicana opened April 4th, 1957 with 300 rooms.
The flower sculpture/fountain (left) on the corner of the property remained until the late 70's.
 

 

 


The porte cochere (right) was cutting-edge design (for the times) and would be happily welcomed back, in the new project.

 

 

The original three-story rooms buildings are still there today, known as Garden Rooms. All of the original buildings are still in use. These will be demolished with the upcoming major expansion as they have long lived-out their usefulness.

 





In 1960 the long running (still running) Folies Bergere debuted.


 

 

1958: 150 rooms were added on the east

1962: 116 rooms were added on the north

1968: Sold to Trans-Texas Airways

1971: Sold to Deli Gustafson

1973: 1,150-seat Superstar Theater was added along the strip-side

1974: The event center was added on the south
 
photo from 1975                     

 

In 1977, the 21-story, 600-room Tiffany Tower (now known as the island Tower) was added along with a new porte cochere and gold mirrored exterior, an expanded casino, a large shopping area, and the world's largest Tiffany leaded-glass canopy (right) over the gaming pit.


1979: Sold To Ramada Hotels

1986: The 22-Story, 805-room Paradise Tower was added along with four more restaurants, a huge tropical pool area (below) and an indoor bridge-walkway, spanning the pool area connecting the new tower to the casino.




 

 

1989: Aztar Corp. took over the Ramada Gaming Group.

1991: The strip-front outer island (right) was added to welcome pedestrians coming from the new Excalibur and MGM Grand resorts.

 

 


In 1996, for some reason, they gave the facade a new look, taking us from Dan Tanna to Fantasy Island (da plane, da plane). I prefer the original 1957 porte cochere.
 

5/19/2006 After a prolonged bidding war, Aztar was purchased by Columbia Sussex, which obtained Aztar's five casinos (including the Tropicana) for $2.75 billion.

 
 
 
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