Tropicana Las Vegas
The Tropicana Las Vegas is a defunct casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by Bally's Corporation, on land leased from Gaming and Leisure Properties. The complex occupies 35 acres (14 ha) at the southeast corner of the Tropicana – Las Vegas Boulevard intersection.
"Tropicana Resort & Casino" redirects here. For other casinos with this name, see Tropicana (disambiguation) § Hotels and nightclubs.
Tropicana Las Vegas
Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
3801 South Las Vegas Boulevard
April 4, 1957
April 2, 2024
1,467
44,570 sq ft (4,141 m2)
Folies Bergere (1959–2009)
Laugh Factory
Purple Reign
MJ Live
Land-based
M. Tony Sherman (1957)
1959, 1962, 1964, 1979, 1986, 2009–2011
The resort was conceived by Ben Jaffe, part owner of the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach. The $15 million Tropicana opened on April 4, 1957, as the most expensive Las Vegas resort developed up to that point. The Tropicana includes a 44,570 sq ft (4,141 m2) casino and 1,467 rooms. The hotel originally opened with low-rise structures containing 300 rooms, and the property would later launch several expansions, including two hotel towers added in 1979 and 1986 respectively. The latter tower was accompanied by the introduction of an island theme for the property. The Tropicana has been host to various live entertainment, including the topless showgirl revue known as Folies Bergere. It ended in 2009, after nearly 50 years, and remains the longest-running show in Las Vegas history.
The Tropicana underwent numerous ownership changes throughout its history. Mob connections were present at the time of its opening, and an FBI investigation in 1979 uncovered a skimming operation at the resort. It was sold that year to Ramada Inns, which later transferred ownership to its spin-off company, Aztar Corporation, in 1989. During the 2000s, Aztar considered demolishing the Tropicana for development of a new resort, although this did not come to fruition. Columbia Sussex bought the resort in 2007, but lost it to bankruptcy two years later, with Onex Corporation emerging as the new owner. Onex launched a $180 million renovation, the property's first since 1986. The project was completed in 2011 and added a South Beach theme.
Penn National Gaming bought the Tropicana in 2015, before selling it to Bally's in 2022. A year later, Major League Baseball's Oakland Athletics reached an agreement with Bally's to demolish the Tropicana, making way for two new projects: a baseball stadium (tentatively the New Las Vegas Stadium) on nine acres of the site, and a new resort bearing the Bally's name on the remaining land. The Tropicana closed on April 2, 2024, and demolition is expected to be complete by October of the same year.
History[edit]
Development and opening[edit]
The Tropicana was conceived by Ben Jaffe, part owner of the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach.[2] In 1955, Jaffe came to Las Vegas and bought the vacant property that would become the site of the Tropicana.[3] M. Tony Sherman of Miami was the architect and Taylor Construction Company was the general contractor.[4][5] Jaffe intended the Tropicana to be the finest hotel in Las Vegas.[3]
Construction ran over schedule and over budget, due in part to competition for labor with the under-construction Stardust, also on the Las Vegas Strip.[3] Jaffe had to sell his interest in the Fontainebleau to complete the Tropicana.[3] Originally proposed as a $4.5 million project,[6] it ultimately cost $15 million, including $800,000 for decorating and tropical landscaping.[7] It was the most expensive Las Vegas resort developed up to that point, beating the $8.5 million Riviera, which opened two years earlier.[8] The Tropicana would be advertised as "the Tiffany of the Strip",[5][9] in reference to the high-end jeweler Tiffany & Co.[10]
The project had 30 investors,[11] including singer Morton Downey, who owned a five-percent interest.[12] Jaffe first leased the property to Phil Kastel,[3] who supervised the project during construction.[13] However, the Gaming Control Board raised suspicions over Kastel's apparent links to organized crime,[3] prompting him to sell his interest in the Tropicana in early 1957.[13] This paved the way for the issuance of a gaming license.[14] J. Kell Houssels, owner of the Las Vegas Club, was hired to operate the Tropicana casino.[3][15]
The Tropicana hosted a preview opening for local residents on April 3, 1957, before debuting to the general public a day later.[5][16] The resort's involvement with organized crime was confirmed a month later, when a note bearing a Tropicana earnings figure was found in the possession of mobster Frank Costello, who was associated with Kastel.[3] Costello had been shot in a failed assassination attempt, and police discovered the note while he was under hospital care.[5]
The control board subsequently investigated to determine whether Kastel was still secretly involved with the Tropicana.[14][17] Kastel had publicly invested more than $300,000 in the project during construction, and the Nevada Tax Commission eventually ordered the Tropicana to rid its ties with him as soon as possible by paying off the debt owed to him.[18] The note was ultimately traced to Tropicana executive Louis Lederer and cashier Michael Tanico, both of whom would be removed from the property.[19][5][20]
Early ownership changes[edit]
By 1959, Houssels bought out Jaffe's interest, gaining a majority share in the Tropicana and becoming its new president.[3][21] The Jaffe family, however, would retain ownership of the land for decades and continue leasing it.[22] The Tropicana prospered throughout the next decade.[3] Houssells sold out in 1968 to Trans-Texas Airways,[3][23] for $8.7 million,[24] but remained as manager for a few years.[5]
In the early 1970s, the Tropicana fared poorly from competition with larger, newer hotels like Caesars Palace and the Las Vegas Hilton.[3] During this time, the Tropicana hosted annual fiesta parties to increase gaming revenue, inviting celebrities and high rollers to attend.[25][26] Deil Gustafson, a Minnesota financier, bought the resort in 1972.[27][28] Sammy Davis Jr. also purchased an eight-percent interest, becoming the first black person to own a share in a Strip resort.[29][30] Gustafson undertook an expansion plan, but encountered financing difficulties.[31][32] In 1974, brothers Edward and Fred Doumani took over management on an emergency basis after investing $1 million into the property.[31][33][34][35]
Mitzi Stauffer Briggs, heir to the Stauffer Chemical fortune, bought a majority interest in the Tropicana in 1975.[36] Briggs said she knew "absolutely nothing about gambling or casinos", but invested in the Tropicana at the suggestion of a friend.[37] Many of its top executives were either fired or resigned in 1976, as Briggs sought to make the resort profitable once again. She invested more than $6 million in the property.[38] Briggs initially received only a probationary one-year gaming license, due to several business failures in her past.[36] She received a full license in July 1977,[32] and began construction of the property's first high-rise structure, the Tiffany Tower,[39][40] which opened two years later.[41] The casino floor was also renovated and expanded.[42]
The Tropicana became the target of a mob skimming operation in 1978.[43] Joe Agosto, then-owner of the casino's Folies Bergere show, oversaw the siphoning of money from the cashier cage to the Kansas City crime family.[44][45][46] The scheme was exposed in 1979 through "Operation Strawman",[47][48] an FBI investigation into hidden mob interests in Las Vegas casinos.[49][50][51] Due to her inexperience, Briggs had relied on the advice of Agosto,[5] whom she found to be charming.[37][52] Because they had allowed Agosto to manage the casino without a gaming license, Briggs and Gustafson faced revocation of their own licenses.[53] They had little choice but to sell the Tropicana. Hotel chain Ramada Inns purchased the business in December 1979, along with a 50% share of the property's real estate that had been owned by the Doumanis.[54][55] Briggs lost an estimated $44 million during her involvement with the Tropicana, and did not receive any of the profits from the Ramada purchase.[37][52] The Doumani brothers and Gufstafson later accused Ramada of breaching its contract on the sale, winning a $34 million judgment in 1989.[56][57]
Gustafson was convicted in 1983 over a check kiting scheme involving the Tropicana,[58][59] and served 40 months in prison.[56] In 1995, he was also charged with bankruptcy fraud relating to the Tropicana's 1979 sale. He, in turn, named the Doumani brothers and two others involved in a scheme with him to divert money from the 1989 judgment; these four individuals were charged as well. Federal officials alleged that the diverted money had wound up in the possession of mobsters. Gustafson pled guilty and agreed to testify against the others. One defendant was dismissed because of lack of evidence, and the others were found not guilty in a 1998 trial.[60]
Labor disputes[edit]
Several bomb incidents occurred at Strip resorts in 1984, amid a labor dispute with local trade unions. The Tropicana was among those targeted, with an early morning blast damaging nine vehicles in its front parking lot.[143] The casino's main show, Folies Bergere, was also closed for 11 weeks due to the dispute.[144]
Folies Bergere closed again in 1989, when its 14-crew musician team went on strike. The crew was represented by the American Federation of Musicians, and walked off the job after their contract expired without a deal for renewal. The closure of Folies Bergere affected 170 other workers involved in the show. It soon reopened with the use of taped music in place of live musicians, a practice that the union had opposed. The crew was ultimately fired, saving the Tropicana $600,000 in yearly salaries. The musician strike also affected several other resorts on the Strip.[145][146][147] After seven months, the strike ended in 1990 with a new contract agreement.[148][149]
In 2001, table game dealers at the Tropicana voted to be represented by the Transport Workers Union, which later accused the casino of targeting its supporters.[150] The union's representation was decertified in 2002; of 147 dealers, 98 voted to decertify, while 38 voted in support of the union.[151][152]
The overall workforce at the Tropicana was represented by the Culinary Workers Union.[153][154][155] Bill Yung, the founder and chief executive of Columbia Sussex, was opposed to union representation.[156] When his company took over the Tropicana in 2007, it laid off more than 500 workers, including 300 Culinary members.[82] Columbia Sussex also sought givebacks from the union during negotiations for a contract renewal.[157] Talks between the two sides eventually became bitter and prolonged.[158][159] In 2008, Yung was replaced by Scott Butera, who worked to negotiate a new contract with Culinary.[156]
The Tropicana has made various appearances in popular culture, including films:
The Tropicana has also been featured in television programs:
The Tropicana was also used for the taping of several game shows, including Dealer's Choice (1974) and Las Vegas Gambit (1980–81).[321][322] Let's Make a Deal was revived in 2009, with half of its first season taped at the resort,[323][324] before moving to Los Angeles.