Friday, April 24, 1998 | 9:51 a.m.
It was supposed to cost $2 million to build the Flamingo in 1946, the first modern Strip resort.
Today, it's going to cost that much just to destroy a Strip hotel.
"There's a lot of preparation that must be done before you can implode a hotel," said Ruben Vasquez, president of the Nevada division of LVI Group Inc. of New York City, one of two demolition firms contracted to implode the Aladdin.
Vasquez estimates it will cost more than $2 million to implode the Aladdin and clean up the debris. And this figure is in line with the cost of previous Las Vegas implosions.
Still, the cost and the risk of injury from hotel implosions are much lower than the old method of destroying buildings -- slamming them with a wrecking ball over and over for days until the entire structure is turned to rubble.
"There is only one reason for an implosion," Vasquez said. "It is a very efficient way to bring down a structure."
Ron Lynn, assistant director of the Clark County Building Department, said the term, "implosion," is actually somewhat of a misnomer.
"The building is not blown up," Lynn said. "What you are doing is using explosive devices to collapse the building in a desired direction. Gravity is what brings it down."
The beauty of implosions, Lynn said, is that the building falls quickly.
"The longer a demolition takes, the more dangerous it is, and the more the risk of people getting injured on the job," Lynn said.
No wonder four Las Vegas hotel-casinos have been imploded in the past five years: the Hacienda on New Year's Eve 1996; the Sands in November 1996; the Landmark in November 1995, and the Dunes in October 1993.
Officials note that during all those implosions, not one worker or onlooker was so much as scratched.
"I think one reason for that is all the regulations we have to adhere to in Clark County," Vasquez said. "In Las Vegas there have been more implosions than any other city, and they've really refined the permitting process."
Another reason, Vasquez said, is experience.
"CDI, the firm we work with, started blasting stumps and mines as far back as 45 years ago," Vasquez said. "Both companies have a lot of experience in this field."
Demolition experts have already spent several weeks at the Aladdin cutting away connecting material from the 17-story tower that is to be imploded Monday evening.
"The idea is to knock out columns and cut away at other support structures in order to turn the tower into a free-standing structure so it will fall the way we want it to," Vasquez said.
In addition, demolition crews wrap chain-link fencing and other materials around the floors of the tower where the explosives are placed in order to prevent a lot of debris from flying.
To implode the Aladdin, CDI is placing nearly 600 pounds of gelatin-based dynamite at the bottom, middle and top of the Aladdin tower.
"It's a very safe explosive," Vasquez said. "To test it, they drop a 100-pound weight on several sticks, and they don't explode."
The implosion will be planned "so that the building folds over and spreads to the south and east (away from the Strip)," Vasquez said. "We're also looking for optimum secondary breakage on the concrete."
Once the Aladdin is imploded, clean-up crews will immediately begin sorting recyclable materials and hauling away refuse to the landfill in Apex.
"We're going to recycle as much as we can, and that will include all the iron and non-ferrous metals and most of the concrete," Vasquez said. "We're also going to haul a lot of material way -- as much as 60 to 70 trucks a day for 20 to 24 days."
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