Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012 | 2 a.m.
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.
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy