Tower at DI to go quietly

Adrienne Packer

Monday, Oct. 22, 2001 | 8:21 a.m.

The plume of dust and smoke from one of Las Vegas Strip's oldest resorts isn't expected to draw the crowds that witnessed the spectacular implosions of its historic neighbors such as the Sands and the Dunes.

The Desert Inn's skeletal Augusta tower is scheduled to be imploded at 2 a.m. Tuesday, making way for Steve Wynn's Le Reve resort.

Wynn has said previously that he doesn't want to put on a show with the implosion of the tower, and Marc Rubenstein, a senior vice president for Wynn Resorts, echoed his boss's sentiments Friday.

"I'm told to take down a concrete structure like this, an implosion is more efficient than a wrecking ball," Rubenstein said. "There is no show. We're not planning an event around it."

The 15-story, 300-room tower is expected to vanish in a poof of dust compared with the major pyrotechnics shows that accompanied the destruction of other Strip landmarks.

"When I close my eyes I can still see it," Rubenstein said of watching the Sands implode. "I can still feel it."

The Desert Inn's southernmost tower's furnishings have been liquidated, and the structure is essentially hollow.

Clark County Fire Department spokesman Bob Leinbach said fire crews are not involved in the implosion, but firefighters and rescue workers will be at the site in case something goes awry.

"We won't have as many units as we've had in the past (during implosions)," Leinbach siad. "They're keeping this low key."

Rubenstein said the footprint of Le Reve encroaches on the Augusta tower lot. The other two Desert Inn towers and the lobby to the classic hotel will remain. Wynn Resorts is using tower space for offices.

On Nov. 15 Wynn will open a new art gallery in the former location of the Desert Inn's lobby.