I've often thought that Las Vegans have no respect for their fair city's long, colorful-and let's not mince words here-brutal history. They should preserve at least one of those old casinos and turn it into a museum.
@baarbear Some of the old lights were kept and du,ped in the desert. What good is that? They should be on display otherwise what's the point of keeping them.
This, for someone from England, must be like American's looking at the English countryside, tea and cakes. The complete opposite. "Yeah... gonna build an absolutely dongin' huge casino, and I want 500 tons of fireworks before it explodes..." :D
A great implo. Too bad the camera was being "blinded" by all the flashes of the fuel going up. To you poor people who are sooo teary eyed over a building going down......
This was a sad day for me. I always stayed at the Dunes and became friends with a lot of the people that worked there. They should have at least spared the sign, as it was one of the city's most famous landmarks. I HATE Steve Wynn and I have refused to set foot into any of his casinos since this night. I know he doesn't care, but it makes ME feel better!!
The statue of the Sultan was moved to a billboard that was placed at the back of the property along I-15 and the golf course. From there, not sure where it went.
i have wondered why the terrorists haven't hit vegas yet. I would think they would soon. Not that I wish they would, but the reason why I think that is that the radical islamowackos hate excess and materialism, etc. It wouldn't surprise me if they did.
I love the "old" Vegas, these new hotels just don't have the legends or any of that mystery that the old vegas had. Also, making Vegas a family place is a joke! It was never meant to be a family theme park, take your kids to Disney World if you want that. I wish they would go back to the old Vegas.
i would think all the pyrotechnics could make these implosions more dangerous. as she said, they are more sensitive than the shaped charges for the implosions. plus, when the building comes down, wouldn't you risk burning debris flying out and creating all sorts of hazards?
@supersaver87 Yeah some real assholes, no respect for the people who made memories there, worked there, etc. ......and that fucked up canned beat goes on, destroying any reality that surfaces in this city.
in my personal opinion,i think steve wynn is EVIL...hes tearing down all of these famous casinos,for what?so he can make his expensive casinos and hope to get more popular then the dunes,or any of the other casinos,well hes not getting any better cause nobody wants a high priced casino,they want something with class,something with style....not some piece of crap with 50 or 60 stories in it.........
Theses Casino's have already been shut down and the fastest way to destroy them is to implode them. If they keep them up, they become an eyesore to the Vegas Strip.
The new eyesores in Vegas are these bland behemoths that they built or are trying to build and stand empty or unfinished. It shows that Americans don't care about culture or history. The Landmark hotel was imploded to make space for a parking lot !! If i want to see stupid architecture, I go to Disneyland, not Vegas, but now Vegas is uglier than disneyland
@fillou4 I agree the old Vegas had character and yes the mob ran it for the most part but they DID know how to treat their employees as well as the tourists! You didn't have to spend 120$ on a show, etc. to get unparalleled customer service, entertainment, meals, ........us natives reeaaallly miss those days. (also you didn't have to go thru 3 interviews and all the other b.s. to get a job)
it's progress though-look at all the landmark buildings and piers destroyed in atlantic city to make way for the casinos there. the vegas i'll remember though is not the theme parks it is now, but the old golden nugget, circus circus, dunes, sands and all. i never went there, but that was the las vegas my grandparents saw and loved.
They should have left these classic hotels up and stop building these overpriced hotels, maybe steve wynn whoever he is can afford a room there but there pricing normal people out of going.
Problem you have with Las Vegas is it has lost the gritty tough as nails gambling state and turned into Disneyland Dunes,Stardust,Sands and Desert Inn were the notorious casinos that shaped the strip with the famous rat pack and mafia connections they were the pinnacle of tv and movie locations so they.ll always be a lot more famous for those reasons the'Diamond Of The Dunes' and the sign demolition is seen at the end of Martin Scorcese,s movie Casino
The sign was the worlds first free standing sign,besides watching the sign get blown to pieces,watching the bulding fall right after it is just a sight nobody wanted to see.....
I agree the Dunes had the Most awesome sign on the strip! I miss all of those great Neon sign the strip used to have. The signs from such great classics such as The Dunes, Stardust, Frontier etc really lite up the strip. At least there is still Fremont St.
Yes the new signs and casinos are UGLY..no charm everything is overdone and gaudy. It is like the difference between Marilyn Monroe and Pam Anderson. One's classy and sexy the other overdone and hard looking! That's Vegas now!
i agree that vegas has lost A LOT of its original charm and appeal as a little neon desert oasis to make way for some other very run-of-the-mill casinos. what they have gained financially, they have lost historically. sux, don't it?
@heene: It caught fire back in 1985 due to an electrical short and was destroyed. By that time it had been moved from the entrance to the golf course.
When I was a kid I stayed at the Galaxy Motel across the street (1966) and I couldn't stop looking at the sign at night. What a shame they didn't save the sign. If Vegas didn't want it, someone could have stuck it on an Interstate highway in the middle of Arizona and that would have been cool.
That's true. I was there in 1991 for a few months and went back in 2008 and it was far uglier. And all those plasma signs are overdoing it. There's like a competition on the strip that is unbecoming. It was planned as it went along yes? BTW I'd like to report a UFO showing up on this video at 24 seconds.
people are so sad to see these old casinos go, but, their time has passed, they turned into dumpy old casinos, it was time for a change, otherwise vegas would turn out to be just another branson Missouri
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
The dunes had been in urgent need of repair years before coming down though. Dunes also made very poor use of its site. The hotel that took it place; the Bellagio is a much much better hotel and many regard Bellagio as one of the finest hotels in the world. Nobody could ever say that about Dunes.
And yes, soon with all the older casinos gone, you can soon pay over $300+ a night for a room in some of the finest hotels in the world. Meals for $100 each. Shows for $100 each. No more cheap deals for you! Make sure you come back soon. We that live in Vegas need more people like you and your extravagant lifestyle. Oh and make sure when you come back here, don't complain that you didn't get anything for free.
you will pay $500 a night for a cramped room in New York when you can get a 1000 square foot suite in vegas for much much less.
there are still plenty of cheap deals to be had in vegas, $4.95 steak dinner at ellis, $6.99 prime rib in california, $7 lunch buffet in gold coast, $1 beers in casino royale and o'sheas, $18 for two to MacKing
you don't get stuff for free when you go to NY or london or paris why should one expect las vegas to be free!!!
If I was rich, I would buy out wynn and demolish all his hotels. And demand that they rebuild Dunes like it was back in 1968 just a few upgrades.
nicolas555539 1 month ago 2
This video made me deaf in my right ear.
acoow 2 months ago
"...the main risk in working with aviation fuel obviously it's fuel...um, no smoking" ha
iluvfriedchicken 2 months ago
I've often thought that Las Vegans have no respect for their fair city's long, colorful-and let's not mince words here-brutal history. They should preserve at least one of those old casinos and turn it into a museum.
baarbear 4 months ago
@baarbear Some of the old lights were kept and du,ped in the desert. What good is that? They should be on display otherwise what's the point of keeping them.
heene 2 months ago
sad man..... thats like blowing up the Eiffel tower or Versaille
nativehero2007 7 months ago
This, for someone from England, must be like American's looking at the English countryside, tea and cakes. The complete opposite. "Yeah... gonna build an absolutely dongin' huge casino, and I want 500 tons of fireworks before it explodes..." :D
lexichronicle2 7 months ago
@lexichronicle2 English countryside tea and cakes?!!! When were you last here? 1912?
heene 2 months ago
They should've saved the sign first. >:( This is why I never ever go to the Encore / Wynn.
hoteliwinshowcases 8 months ago
the ultimate hyperreality
jimmyass 10 months ago
A great implo. Too bad the camera was being "blinded" by all the flashes of the fuel going up. To you poor people who are sooo teary eyed over a building going down......
Get a Life! It's just a building.
zarniwoop42 11 months ago
This was a sad day for me. I always stayed at the Dunes and became friends with a lot of the people that worked there. They should have at least spared the sign, as it was one of the city's most famous landmarks. I HATE Steve Wynn and I have refused to set foot into any of his casinos since this night. I know he doesn't care, but it makes ME feel better!!
tsloverlarry 1 year ago
The statue of the Sultan was moved to a billboard that was placed at the back of the property along I-15 and the golf course. From there, not sure where it went.
Phlorafan 1 year ago
hello uncessecary pollution
Airshot06 1 year ago
it's sick that the audience cheers when the legendary dunes topples to the ground...
ckyisyourfuture 2 years ago
They cheered because it was one hell of a show. You have to admit, the Dunes went out extraordinarily.
fafnir242 1 year ago
@fafnir242 Well if it had to go, it's best this way than over a few days behind a mass of scaffolding.
heene 2 months ago
@ckyisyourfuture I completely agree. I had the pleasure of working there and it was absolute class!!! A gorgeous place inside an out.
RhondaEve 1 year ago
@ckyisyourfuture When the Stardust fell, someone shouted 'Go baby'! Sick or what!
heene 2 months ago
i have wondered why the terrorists haven't hit vegas yet. I would think they would soon. Not that I wish they would, but the reason why I think that is that the radical islamowackos hate excess and materialism, etc. It wouldn't surprise me if they did.
pete5668 2 years ago
The Dunes sign was by far the BEST sign in the cities history period
Bartels92 2 years ago
yeah sad to see it go but if is gotta go do it right
gtdynobmx 2 years ago
@Bartels92 The entry was unmatchable also!!!
RhondaEve 1 year ago
I love the "old" Vegas, these new hotels just don't have the legends or any of that mystery that the old vegas had. Also, making Vegas a family place is a joke! It was never meant to be a family theme park, take your kids to Disney World if you want that. I wish they would go back to the old Vegas.
alsilver10 2 years ago 5
@alsilver10 let's not forget that the "old" Vegas was ruled by the Mafia. The Dunes' implosion signified the end of their control.
sideburn260 1 year ago
@sideburn260 and your point is?
RhondaEve 1 year ago
i would think all the pyrotechnics could make these implosions more dangerous. as she said, they are more sensitive than the shaped charges for the implosions. plus, when the building comes down, wouldn't you risk burning debris flying out and creating all sorts of hazards?
zatoth13 2 years ago 3
They blew up the sign too?!
Damn, nothing's sacred...
supersaver87 2 years ago 10
@supersaver87 Yeah some real assholes, no respect for the people who made memories there, worked there, etc. ......and that fucked up canned beat goes on, destroying any reality that surfaces in this city.
RhondaEve 1 year ago
@supersaver87 It fell just before the building - while it was lit! A bit hard to see as the flames/explosion hide it.
heene 2 months ago
Fuck you Steve Wynn!!!!!!
angelandersoninvegas 2 years ago 29
in my personal opinion,i think steve wynn is EVIL...hes tearing down all of these famous casinos,for what?so he can make his expensive casinos and hope to get more popular then the dunes,or any of the other casinos,well hes not getting any better cause nobody wants a high priced casino,they want something with class,something with style....not some piece of crap with 50 or 60 stories in it.........
linkfan95 2 years ago 4
Theses Casino's have already been shut down and the fastest way to destroy them is to implode them. If they keep them up, they become an eyesore to the Vegas Strip.
MLGPro17 2 years ago 2
The new eyesores in Vegas are these bland behemoths that they built or are trying to build and stand empty or unfinished. It shows that Americans don't care about culture or history. The Landmark hotel was imploded to make space for a parking lot !! If i want to see stupid architecture, I go to Disneyland, not Vegas, but now Vegas is uglier than disneyland
fillou4 2 years ago 2
@fillou4 I agree the old Vegas had character and yes the mob ran it for the most part but they DID know how to treat their employees as well as the tourists! You didn't have to spend 120$ on a show, etc. to get unparalleled customer service, entertainment, meals, ........us natives reeaaallly miss those days. (also you didn't have to go thru 3 interviews and all the other b.s. to get a job)
RhondaEve 1 year ago 3
it's progress though-look at all the landmark buildings and piers destroyed in atlantic city to make way for the casinos there. the vegas i'll remember though is not the theme parks it is now, but the old golden nugget, circus circus, dunes, sands and all. i never went there, but that was the las vegas my grandparents saw and loved.
zatoth13 2 years ago
@zatoth13 - Listen to the cheers when some classy building is demolished.
"No one ever went broke understimating the taste of the American public." H.L. Mencken
KutWrite 11 months ago
They should have left these classic hotels up and stop building these overpriced hotels, maybe steve wynn whoever he is can afford a room there but there pricing normal people out of going.
celticmad66 2 years ago 2
Problem you have with Las Vegas is it has lost the gritty tough as nails gambling state and turned into Disneyland Dunes,Stardust,Sands and Desert Inn were the notorious casinos that shaped the strip with the famous rat pack and mafia connections they were the pinnacle of tv and movie locations so they.ll always be a lot more famous for those reasons the'Diamond Of The Dunes' and the sign demolition is seen at the end of Martin Scorcese,s movie Casino
sptol 2 years ago 4
The sign was the worlds first free standing sign,besides watching the sign get blown to pieces,watching the bulding fall right after it is just a sight nobody wanted to see.....
linkfan95 2 years ago
I agree the Dunes had the Most awesome sign on the strip! I miss all of those great Neon sign the strip used to have. The signs from such great classics such as The Dunes, Stardust, Frontier etc really lite up the strip. At least there is still Fremont St.
elegance954 2 years ago 3
Yes the new signs and casinos are UGLY..no charm everything is overdone and gaudy. It is like the difference between Marilyn Monroe and Pam Anderson. One's classy and sexy the other overdone and hard looking! That's Vegas now!
DA90027 3 years ago 3
i agree that vegas has lost A LOT of its original charm and appeal as a little neon desert oasis to make way for some other very run-of-the-mill casinos. what they have gained financially, they have lost historically. sux, don't it?
padam4 3 years ago 2
why would demolish a sign with a fake pirate ship!?that sign was one of the last neon masterpieces left in Vegas!!!!!
linkfan95 3 years ago 4
As I recall there was a statue of a sultan standing over the entrance of the Dunes. What ever happened to it? Was it destroyed as well?
baarbear 3 years ago
I think that was there a long time ago before the hotel was demolished.
heene 3 years ago
@heene: It caught fire back in 1985 due to an electrical short and was destroyed. By that time it had been moved from the entrance to the golf course.
thunderstruck665 1 year ago
@heene
supposedly, the sultan caught fire in 1986, due to an electrical fault in its belly
RICKROLLBLENDER 11 months ago
@baarbear It was moved back to the golf course, then was destroyed by a fire several years later.
tsloverlarry 1 year ago
Wynn takes down the Dunes first, now he takes down Frontiers sign for Encores sign :(
gokyle45 3 years ago 4
why the sign!!?
mbenzsl2000 3 years ago 5
When I was a kid I stayed at the Galaxy Motel across the street (1966) and I couldn't stop looking at the sign at night. What a shame they didn't save the sign. If Vegas didn't want it, someone could have stuck it on an Interstate highway in the middle of Arizona and that would have been cool.
mbmorrison 3 years ago 6
How stupid to blow up that sign, what an icon that should have been kept and restored.
mustlx 3 years ago 5
Vegas is in serious financial trouble now with the shitty economy. Wynn deserves rectal cancer for what he has done to that city.
DA90027 3 years ago 5
Las Vegas IS SO UGLY NOW all those new casinos are butt ugly, overbuilt and gaudy. Looks like an overdone Disneyland. The Dunes was gorgeous!
DA90027 3 years ago 5
That's true. I was there in 1991 for a few months and went back in 2008 and it was far uglier. And all those plasma signs are overdoing it. There's like a competition on the strip that is unbecoming. It was planned as it went along yes? BTW I'd like to report a UFO showing up on this video at 24 seconds.
ouivalerie 3 years ago 3
people are so sad to see these old casinos go, but, their time has passed, they turned into dumpy old casinos, it was time for a change, otherwise vegas would turn out to be just another branson Missouri
fuzzeedyse105 3 years ago
why do they want to catch it on fire?
nicolas555539 4 years ago
To make the demolition look more spectacular, I suppose. Trouble is, it made so much smoke, you could hardly see it fall.
And the stench of aviation fuel must have been really noticable.
heene 4 years ago
@heene lollmfaorotflwsms(laughing out loud laughing my fucking ass off rolling on the floor laughing while shitting myself)
scottherling14 2 months ago
Destroying the sign while it was lit was very barbaric and disrespectful.
It should of been saved for the neon museum. Next to the Stardust, the Dunes was my favorite sign.
Landmark356 4 years ago 31
why would they waste money on exploding the sign
ricky3rd 4 years ago
They did not consider it a waste of money - it drew more people to the site, who no doubt all flooded to Treasure Island afterwards.
heene 4 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
I am sure Wynn gives a shit what you think of him, but lets look at the stats since Wynn built the Mirage in 1989
visitors to las vegas in 1988; 16 million
visitors to las vegas in 2007; 40 million
population of clark county in 1988; 680,000
population of clark county in 2007; 2,000,000
Vegasrossie 4 years ago
I agree, these new super casinos do not care about customer servce only how much their stocks will be traded on Wall Street.
1998disco72 4 years ago 7
The Dunes wasn't even that old. What was the point of demolishing it? It's a shame that we have no appreciation for the past anymore.
thunderstruck665 4 years ago 6
This comment has received too many negative votes show
The dunes had been in urgent need of repair years before coming down though. Dunes also made very poor use of its site. The hotel that took it place; the Bellagio is a much much better hotel and many regard Bellagio as one of the finest hotels in the world. Nobody could ever say that about Dunes.
Vegasrossie 4 years ago
And yes, soon with all the older casinos gone, you can soon pay over $300+ a night for a room in some of the finest hotels in the world. Meals for $100 each. Shows for $100 each. No more cheap deals for you! Make sure you come back soon. We that live in Vegas need more people like you and your extravagant lifestyle. Oh and make sure when you come back here, don't complain that you didn't get anything for free.
pyratesteele 4 years ago 5
you will pay $500 a night for a cramped room in New York when you can get a 1000 square foot suite in vegas for much much less.
there are still plenty of cheap deals to be had in vegas, $4.95 steak dinner at ellis, $6.99 prime rib in california, $7 lunch buffet in gold coast, $1 beers in casino royale and o'sheas, $18 for two to MacKing
you don't get stuff for free when you go to NY or london or paris why should one expect las vegas to be free!!!
Vegasrossie 4 years ago 5
The way that Wynn used his casino pirates of the cairbbean was pretty gay.
1998disco72 4 years ago