By RIO YAMAT (Associated Press)
LAS VEGAS (AP) — In the 1971 movie “Diamonds are Forever,” James Bond stays in a luxurious suite at the Tropicana Las Vegas.
“I hear that the Hotel Tropicana is quite comfortable,” Agent 007 says.
It was the Tropicana’s prime time. The extravagant casino was a frequent hangout of the famous Rat Pack, while its history with the mob secured its place in Vegas legend.
But after welcoming visitors for 67 years, the doors to the Las Vegas Strip’s third-oldest casino will be locked at noon Tuesday and demolition is planned for October to make space for a $1.5 billion Major League Baseball stadium — part of the city’s latest transformation into a hub for sports entertainment.
“It’s time. It’s run its course,” Charlie Granado, a bartender at the Tropicana for 38 years, said of the casino’s closure. “It makes me sad but on the other hand, it’s a happy ending.”
The population of Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, had just surpassed 100,000 when the Tropicana opened on a Strip surrounded by vast, open desert. It cost $15 million to build three stories with 300 rooms split into two wings.
Its well-kept lawns and sophisticated showroom earned it the nickname “Tiffany of the Strip.” There was a towering tulip-shaped fountain near the entrance, mosaic tiles and mahogany-paneled walls throughout.
Monochrome photographs from that time provide a glimpse into what it was like inside the Tropicana at its peak, when it frequently hosted top-tier stars in its showroom — from Elizabeth Taylor and Debbie Reynolds to Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr.
Mel Tormé and Eddie Fisher performed at the Tropicana. Gladys Knight and Wayne Newton have held residencies there.
In a city known for reinvention, the Tropicana itself underwent major changes as Las Vegas evolved. Two hotel towers were added in later years. In 1979, a $1 million green-and-amber stained glass ceiling was installed above the casino floor.
Barbara Boggess was 26 when she started working at the Tropicana in 1978 as a linen room attendant.
“The Tropicana was pretty much sitting here all by itself,” Boggess said. “It was desert all around. It used to take me 10 minutes to get to work. Now it takes an hour.”
Now 72, Boggess has seen the Tropicana through its many transformations. There was the 1980s rebrand as “The Island of Las Vegas,” with a swim-up blackjack table at the pool, and the South Beach-themed renovation completed in 2011.
Today, only the low-rise hotel room wings remain of the original Tropicana structure. Yet the casino still brings up vintage Vegas nostalgia.
“It does give an old Vegas vibe. When you first walk in, you see the stained glass and the low ceilings,” JT Seumala, a Las Vegas resident who visited the casino in March, said. “It does feel like you step back in time for a moment.”
Seumala and his spouse stayed at the Tropicana as a way to honor the landmark. They wandered around the casino floor and hotel, turning down random hallways and exploring the convention center. They tried their luck at blackjack and roulette and chatted with a cocktail server who had worked there for 25 years. At the end of their stay, they pocketed a few red $5 poker chips to remember the casino.
Backstage at the casino's opening many years ago, the Tropicana had connections to organized crime, mainly through reputed mobster Frank Costello.
Shortly after the grand opening, Costello was shot in the head in New York. Police discovered in his coat pocket a piece of paper with the Tropicana's exact earnings figure. The note also mentioned 'money to be skimmed' for Costello's associates, according to a post on The Mob Museum's website reflecting on the Tropicana's history.
In the 1970s, federal authorities investigating mobsters in Kansas City accused over a dozen mob members of plotting to skim nearly $2 million in gambling revenue from Las Vegas casinos, including the Tropicana. Charges related to the Tropicana alone led to five convictions.
However, the well-known hotel-casino also experienced many years of success without mob influence. It was the home of the city's longest-running show, 'Folies Bergere.' The topless revue, brought in from Paris, showcased what is now one of the most famous Las Vegas symbols: the feathered showgirl.
Throughout its almost 50-year run, 'Folies Bergere' presented elaborate outfits and stage designs, original music that was once performed by a live orchestra, line dancers, magic acts, acrobats, and comedy.
The cabaret was featured in the 1964 Elvis Presley film 'Viva Las Vegas.' Magicians Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn began their careers in the show.
Presently, the location at the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip crosses a major road named after the Tropicana. It is surrounded by the towering mega-resorts that Las Vegas is now famous for.
Nearby are the residences of the NFL's Las Vegas Raiders, who relocated from Oakland, California, in 2020, and the city's first major league professional team, the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights.
The baseball stadium planned for the land under the Tropicana is set to open in 2028.
"There's a lot of debate about whether it should remain or should it go," Seumala said. "But the thing that I do love about Vegas is that it's always reinventing itself."
