Harolds Club implosion not quite as planned

Wednesday, Dec. 15, 1999 | 3:23 a.m.

Instead of collapsing in on itself, a big chunk of the 64-year-old casino remained intact and toppled into an empty lot to the north, severing a gas line in the process.

The gas leak forced the evacuation of about 200 people from Harrah's hotel and casino next door, said Harrah's spokeswoman Kerri Garcia.

There were no injuries and guests were allowed back in about three hours later.

"Everything's back to normal," Harrah's spokeswoman Kerri Garcia said midday Wednesday. Garcia added that no other buildings were damaged by the implosion.

Many evacuated guests took refuge from the cold inside Club Cal-Neva across Second Street.

"Up on the 26th floor (of Harrah's) it felt like an earthquake," Frank Hanold of Placerville, Calif. told the Reno Gazette-Journal after he and his wife were awakened by the implosion.

After hearing fire engines, he called the lobby and learned the building was being evacuated.

"So we put our clothes on and got out," he said.

The implosion - done to expedite demolition of Harolds so that Harrah's can build a plaza on the site by spring - was delayed from its scheduled 2 a.m. by about 20 minutes when after onlookers were discovered on nearby rooftops.

After the all-clear signal was given, a series of powerful blasts occurred and the building started to lean slowly in on itself and then toppled into the adjacent lot to the north, where other buildings comprising Harolds already have been razed and removed.

"It extended to the north farther than we thought," said Douglas Loizeaux, vice president of Controlled Demolition Inc. of Phoenix, Md., which oversaw the implosion and has felled hotel-casino landmarks in Las Vegas and many other buildings throughout the world.

The building fell out farther because of its rigidity and because columns and beams were welded together rather than riveted or bolted, he said.

Reno City Councilman Dave Aiazzi said he could feel the concussion from the explosives from his viewpoint at Third and Virginia.

"One more to go," he said, referring to the Mapes Hotel, which is tentatively slated for implosion on Jan. 30, pending the outcome of a court challenge.

Harrah's purchased Harolds Club and the neighboring Nevada Club in June. Harrah's plans to build a temporary plaza on the site while it considers options for a permanent project.