Next DI implosion planned

By Jeff Simpson

Tuesday, April 27, 2004 | 10:34 a.m.

It's almost time again for one of Las Vegas' most impressive spectacles -- a hotel implosion.

Two-and-a-half years after Steve Wynn imploded the Desert Inn's 14-story Augusta Tower to clear space for his $2.4 billion Wynn Las Vegas, the Strip developer plans to knock down the DI's St. Andrews Tower by the end of October to make way for an expansion of the yet-to-open megaresort.

The implosion date for the building, which now houses Wynn's corporate offices as well as his Wynn Collection gallery, has yet to be set, but he hopes the building comes down before Oct. 31, Wynn said Monday.

The St. Andrews Tower is the biggest remaining Desert Inn hotel tower left on the site Wynn bought for $270 million four years ago; he imploded the 14-story Augusta Tower in October 2001.

"We'll do (the implosion), no later than Halloween," Wynn said. "But we're trying to move it up."

Wynn wasn't able to comment on his company's yet-to-be-announced plans to expand Wynn Las Vegas by adding a new, $500 million-plus, 1,300-room tower on the north side of the hotel now under construction, but Wynn Resorts is expected to announce the expansion soon.

Clark County Building Official Ron Lynn said Monday that Wynn Resorts has yet to officially file a permit request to implode the St. Andrews Tower.

But he also said Wynn Resorts has kept county officials informed about the plans to demolish the tower, and he soon expects the company to file permit requests to demolish it.

The Augusta Tower demolition two-and-a-half years ago was the Strip's last implosion.

That implosion followed earlier spectacles at: the El Rancho, in October 2000; the old Aladdin, in 1998 to make way for its same-named successor; the Sands, in 1996, which paved way for The Venetian; the Hacienda, in 1996, on the site of Mandalay Bay; the Landmark, in 1995, replaced by a parking lot; and the Dunes, in 1993, creating space now occupied by Bellagio.

Beginning with the Dunes implosion, part of a public relations stunt Wynn cooked up to generate interest in the simultaneous opening of Treasure Island, the Strip's implosions created impressive scenes that were replayed again and again on national television news clips.

MGM MIRAGE spokesman Alan Feldman, Wynn's top PR man when he ran Mirage Resorts, said implosions make for dramatic images, with buildings that took years to build taking only 10 seconds to come down.

"I think the images send a message that Las Vegas moves forward in a dramatic way, a beneficial message outside of Las Vegas," Feldman said. "But for some Las Vegas residents, I think there's growing concern about how disposable our history is, how quickly we (demolish historic structures)."

Wynn said he had yet to decide what time of day to implode the St. Andrews Tower. He imploded the Augusta Tower in the wee hours of a weekday morning, as did Florida-based Turnberry Associates when it imploded the El Rancho.

"The early morning hours are better, purely for cost reasons," the county's Lynn explained. "The more people that show up to watch, the more security needed to control the crowd."

Knocking down the building in the middle of the night also minimizes the impact -- and cost -- of shutting down Las Vegas Boulevard and other nearby streets for safety reasons, he said.

Hotel tower implosions create giant dust clouds that impede visibility. The dust later drops to ground level, dirtying street surfaces.

Lynn said hotel operators typically ask for a conventional demolition permit before seeking an implosion permit. Preliminary work weakening a structure's critical connections is done first, with much of the building's guts stripped out before the building is toppled.

In addition to the St. Andrews implosion, Wynn plans demolition of the remaining Desert Inn buildings, except for the parking garage at the northwest corner of the property, which will be expanded and used for employee parking, Wynn said.

The proposed expansion would add a new, smaller tower to the north end of the tower now under construction, transform the Wynn Las Vegas arc into a gentle S-shape, and copy the chocolate-colored reflective glass look of the main tower.

Wynn recently set a tentative April 28, 2005, opening date for Wynn Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas Sun reported in February that Wynn Resorts plans to begin construction on the $500 million-plus expansion project before the original tower opens for business.