The Decline of Las Vegas
Busted flush: Las Vegas on a losing streak
Four years ago Las Vegas was the fastest-growing city in the US. Now it's America’s foreclosure capital
Image 1 of 5
The distinctive sign of the Sahara hotel is dwarfed by the shining blue Fontainebleau, a $2.9 billion hotel and casino development that went bankrupt in 2009 Photo: Jane Hilton
Sitting in the poolside restaurant at the Trump International hotel in Las Vegas, my eye was taken by a saying by the inimitable 'Donald’ etched into a floor-to-ceiling mirror: 'As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, think big.’
Opened in 2008, the Trump International stands back from Las Vegas Boulevard, the main thoroughfare known as the Strip. With its 1,250 rooms and 50 penthouse suites on 64 storeys, the Trump is far from being the largest of the steroid-pumped hotel resorts along the Strip – it does not even boast a casino – and yet, standing in its perfect isolation, its windows clad in 24ct gold, it resembles nothing so much as a huge shimmering tombstone, a metaphor for the near-death experience that Las Vegas, where 'thinking big’ is what they do, has gone through in recent years.
Beside the Trump Tower is a vacant lot that was once the site of the New Frontier hotel. Opened in 1942 – the second hotel to open on the Strip, and in Las Vegas terms a building of outstanding historical importance – the New Frontier was the scene of Elvis Presley’s first Las Vegas appearance in 1956, and was briefly owned by Howard Hughes. In 2007 it was imploded – in the traditional Las Vegas style – to make way for a new $8 billion luxury hotel, provisionally named the Las Vegas Plaza, which was originally scheduled to open in December 2011. But the developers, hamstrung by the financial paralysis that has engulfed the town, have yet to break ground.
Beside the deserted site stand the skeletal steel foundations of another mega-resort, the Echelon. This was once the site of another historic Vegas casino, the Stardust, which was blown up in 2007. Plans for the Echelon include five hotels, a convention centre and a shopping centre, but construction was halted in 2008 when the American economy went into chronic relapse. The project’s owners, Boyd Gaming, say it will take several years and a further $4.8 billion to complete. Work will not be resuming any day soon.
Across the street stands the uncompleted shining blue tower of the Fontainebleau, a $2.9 billion, 3,889-room, 68-storey hotel, condominium and casino development. Building halted in 2009 when the Fontainebleau became the largest commercial construction to go bankrupt in the US. The property eventually passed into the hands of the corporate raider Carl Icahn for a song; the local rumour is that he is waiting for the price of steel to rise, when the hotel will be imploded and sold for scrap.
Comment
"Destroying the New World Order"
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!
Latest Activity
- Top News
- Everything
The Hunt - Official Trailer [HD]
"A former ANTIFA member was interviewed here recently and this would not be far from actual reality…"
Legacy of Supposedly Inferior Aircraft Outmatching Their Enemies
We think of the Korean War aerial combat as the classic dogfights between the American F-86 Sabre…See More
"This is just another form of a feudal globalism dictated by corporate technocrats bragging about…"
What is Area 2 and What Goes on There?
We have all heard of Area 51 and S-4, along with such terms as Water Town, Papoose Lake,…See More
STRANGE THINGS HAPPENING IN YELLOWSTONE
It’s not the fact that Yellowstone National Park sits atop a super volcano that hasn’t erupted in…See More
Austrian police raid house of man who leaked Israeli ambassador video making genocidal comments
In a new ITV documentary, Breaking Ranks: Inside Israel’s War, former Israeli soldiers describe how Gaza civilians were killed, often without warning, in an ...
WARHAMMER 40,000 | 1980's GRIMDARK MOVIE
WARHAMMER 40,000 | 1980's GRIMDARK MOVIEThis is a Concept Movie Trailer made with the help of AI. This video is created purely for fun and out of curiosity a...
"Tavistock Timing"
The Ringside View
Down in the streets where the animals meetWhere tear gas flies and people get beatWhere…See More
© 2025 Created by truth.
Powered by
You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!
Join 12160 Social Network