Video: New Frontier imploded five years ago today

Steve Marcus

The New Frontier Atrium Tower starts to fall as it is imploded Nov. 13, 2007.

By Sun Staff (contact)

Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012 | 2 a.m.

New Frontier Implosion Preparation

(NYT56) LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Nov. 11, 2007 -- EXPLOSIVES-EXPERTS -- The New Frontier Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas is stripped down to its bones on Saturday, Nov. 10, 2007, in preparation for demolition, set for early Tuesday. The hotel, which opened in 1942, will be taken down by members of the Loizeaux family. (Isaac Brekken/The New York Times)

Launch slideshow »

New Frontier Implosion

Fireworks explode before the implosion of the New Frontier hotel tower in Las Vegas, Nevada November 13, 2007. The casino on The Las Vegas Strip was purchased by Elad properties, an Israeli-owned real estate investment group, for more than U.S. $1.2 billion in May 2007. Elad Group, which also owns the Plaza hotel in New York, and the IDB Group are expected to build a Plaza-themed, multi-billion dollar megaresort on the site.

Launch slideshow »

Five years ago this morning, the New Frontier reached the end of the line when it was imploded at 2:37 a.m.

At the time, the 65-year-old casino was the oldest property on the Strip. It was where Elvis Presley first performed in Las Vegas and was the last standing of the casinos once owned by Howard Hughes.

The implosion set off car alarms and brought down the 16-story building moments after a fireworks show that was watched by thousands of onlookers.

The New Frontier, north of the Fashion Show mall across the Strip from the then-under-construction Encore, came down to make room for a Plaza-branded resort. A real estate group from Israel bought the land for $1.2 billion with plans to open the Plaza Las Vegas this year. But the project became the subject of a legal fight and fell victim to the poor economy.

Today, the 34 1/2-acre lot where the New Frontier once sat is empty.

New Frontier Implosion

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The New Frontier was imploded Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2007. The 65-year-old casino, the second property built on the famous Las Vegas Strip, was the venue where Elvis Presley made his Las Vegas debut in 1956. It also housed entertainers like Siegfried and Roy, and Wayne Newton; was once owned by eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes, and featured one of the longest union strikes in U.S. history.