Harolds Club tumbles in implosion; triggers gas leak

Wednesday, Dec. 15, 1999 | 9:53 a.m.

But the predawn implosion of the 64-year-old casino didn't go quite as planned. The falling building triggered a gas leak, which forced the evacuation of Harrah's hotel and casino next door.

There were no injuries as the building fell at 2:23 p.m., but hotel guests were rustled from their beds and the casino area was cleared while fire officials investigated the source of the gas leak.

Everyone was allowed back in shortly before 6 a.m.

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 Harrahs can build a plaza on the site by spring - was delayed from its scheduled 2 a.m. start after onlookers were discovered on the roof of The Gambler casino and a nearby liquor store across Virginia Street from Harolds.

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 announced its purchase of Harolds Club and the neighboring Nevada Club in June. It hopes to see demolition completed by the end of December, after which it plans to complete a plaza on the site in April or May.

A permanent attraction will be built on the site sometime in the future, though no specific plans have been announced.