Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Last day of Aladdin mourned

Abandoned, forsaken and forlorn, the dark oval-shaped 17-story Aladdin hotel spent its last night behind a chain link fence, all but ignored by the South Strip hordes that scurried past.

Many of them walked past the barren hotel grounds, littered with old girlie magazines and visitor guides, and hardly seemed to notice the dark, aureate eyesore that was once a major Strip hotel.

Occasionally, a visitor would stop and talk about the resort.

"It's the end of an era. I guess time has passed her by," said John Forte of Baton Rouge, La., who said he wanted to see the old hotel one last time.

"My wife and I stayed here 20 years ago," Forte said. "We had a wonderful time. Of course, the town was a lot different then. Back then, we felt like were in the boonies because it was so far down the Strip."

Twenty years ago the 17-story, 1,100-room Aladdin was a premiere Las Vegas property. But, in recent years the hotel has been greatly overshadowed by newer, more polished themed mega-resorts.

"I knew this day would come, said Tamara White, a former Aladdin cocktail waitress. "I have to work swing tomorrow, and I just wanted to see the old place one more time before they take it down."

As White spoke, one of her friends pointed to the spots along the tower where workmen had cut away support beams and columns, to make the structure fall more easily during today's 7:25 p.m. implosion.

"Sorry to see her go," said John Jenson of Sun Valley, Idaho, as he and his female companion hurried past, shaking off further questions from a reporter.

One woman who did want to talk about the Aladdin was Margaret Timmerman of Springfield, Ohio.

"Excuse me," she asked a reporter. "Do you know when they're going to have the implosion? We were wondering if they were going to close the Strip, because we have tickets to see Rodney Dangerfield, and we don't want to miss any of that show."

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