Casino bites the dust

Author: Simon Dexter

One of the most famous casinos in Las Vegas has seen its last roulette spin, after the Stardust was demolished to make way for a .4 billion mega resort.

There was sadness as the bulldozers moved in on the 50-year-old complex raising it to the ground to make way for a modern purpose-built venue for gambling.

Hundreds turned up to say farewell to the casino, which had become an iconic venue popular with both tourists and locals.

The casino was the biggest ever to be totally removed from the strip in the history of Las Vegas.

The complex was hailed as being the first mass-appeal casino. It was the first to allow holiday makers to stay cheaply with their rooms and food subsidised by the casino.

Bob Boughner, chief executive of the holding company Echelon Resorts, admitted that while the Stardust was a favourite of the older generation, it was failing to attract the casino backpackers and the convention crowd.

The idea used to be to discount rooms and food to keep the punters coming in, however these days, more can be made from renting rooms and selling entertainment than from the casinos themselves.

“There was this implicit idea that invisible high rollers came in and funded everything, so that Mr. and Mrs. America could have a steak for and see Frank Sinatra for the price of a drink,” said David Schwartz from the Centre for Gaming Research.

“Now you can build a 7,000-room hotel and charge 0 a night for rooms. With slots being so big, it is all the people losing 0 per trip that are driving the growth.”

The Stardust was the inspiration behind the Martin Scorsese film Casino, due to its alleged connection to the mafia, while the near 200ft neon sign was familiar even to people who had never visited the strip.

The legendary Siegfried and Roy played there for almost twenty years but with attendances dwindling, in the face of stiff competition from rival casinos, the decision was made to call it a day at The Stardust.

A new venue called The Echelon is set to open in late 2011 with more than 4,000 hotel beds, a stage theatre, a concert arena, a huge shopping centre and more than one million square feet of gambling space.

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