The Sands Casino, Atlantic City
Check out some of the videos of the implosion here:
YouTube.comThe Sands Casino Parking Garage Implosion:
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By WAYNE PARRY, Associated Press Writer
Fri Oct 19, 10:44 AM ET
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - In about the same time it takes for a roulette ball to fall and settle on a number, the Sands Casino Hotel was demolished Thursday night.
It took less than 20 seconds for the 21-story, 500-room tower where Frank Sinatra once held court to come crashing to the ground shortly after 9:30 p.m. in the first implosion of an East Coast casino.
The demolition makes way for a mega-casino to be built on the Sands site by Pinnacle Entertainment at an estimated cost of $1.5 billion to $2 billion. The as-yet unnamed complex is to open in late 2011 or early 2012.
As a fireworks display bathed the area in multicolored flashes of light and a public address system blared Sinatra crooning "Bye Bye, Baby," Gov. Jon Corzine and Pinnacle chairman Daniel Lee pushed a wooden-handled plunger connected to a wire running to the building to set off the explosions.
A series of 17 loud booms echoed, tenths of a second apart. After a delay of about five seconds, the building keeled slightly to the northeast — exactly as demolition crews said it would — and collapsed on itself in a roar of debris and dust.
"It was awesome!" said James Mack of Whippany, who used to take bus rides to the Sands to gamble and catch a show. "It came straight down and didn't touch that other building right next to it. These guys know what they're doing."
Rocky Merrill, the former chief engineer at the Sands, once had to cut doors into the walls of an entire floor of rooms so Sinatra and his pals could mingle without having to go out into the hallway.
"It was a very homey place," he said. "Everybody felt at home there."
When it opened in August 1980, the Sands was called the Brighton Hotel & Casino, taking its name from a popular Atlantic City hotel of days gone by.
Standing outside the building among a crush of people waiting to get in on the first night was Lee, who had graduated from business school months earlier and landed a job with an investment bank that financed casinos, though not the Sands.
Years later, as chairman and CEO of Pinnacle, Lee was on hand to watch the Sands come down on his 51st birthday.
"This is the first building that I was in when it opened, and that I'll be there when it blows up," he said.
He said his new casino will meet the challenge of the new cutthroat competition in Atlantic City, where multibillion-dollar resorts are pushing older casinos out of business. The test, he said, is "to compete in this new world, or be the next implosion."
In its heyday, the Sands offered top-name entertainment. Sinatra played his final public concerts there in November 1994 at The Copa Room. Others who graced the stage included Sammy Davis Jr., Cher, Liza Minnelli, Robin Williams, Eddie Murphy, Billy Crystal and Gloria Estefan.
It was the first Atlantic City casino to offer poker.
But at 57,045 square feet of gambling space, the Sands had become the smallest of Atlantic City's 12 casinos before it closed last November. Its decor, while evoking the Sands in Las Vegas, was seen as dated here.
The Sands, like many other casinos here, lost gamblers and revenue to newer, larger, flashier competitors, particularly after 2003 when the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa opened and redefined customers' expectations of what the casino experience should be like in New Jersey.
By 1998, the Sands had already filed for bankruptcy, and two years later financier Carl Icahn took control of it.
He sold it to Pinnacle last year for $250 million, and the new owners quickly made plans to wipe it off the map. The new complex will not use the Sands name.
The new casino is to be built on the 18-acre site on the Boardwalk and will have 2,000 hotel rooms and 120,000 square feet of gambling space, along with convention and meeting room space, high-end retail shops and a large concert hall.
"It'll be a spectacular property," Lee promised, refusing to go into detail. "We're studying the best of the top hotels in Las Vegas and around the world, and there will be some new things that are not done anywhere else."
The company expects to break ground next year.
Press Release Source: Pinnacle Entertainment
Pinnacle Atlantic City Selects Sands Casino Hotel Demolition Team
Wednesday July 18, 8:00 am ET
R.E. Pierson Construction Co., Controlled Demolition, Inc., PS&S, and Fireworks by Grucci To Prepare for First-Ever Atlantic City Casino-Hotel Implosion
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J., July 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pinnacle Atlantic City today announced that R.E. Pierson Construction Co., Controlled Demolition, Inc. (CDI), Paulus, Sokolowski & Sartor (PS&S), and Fireworks by Grucci have been selected as the demolition team that will prepare the legendary Sands Casino Hotel for Atlantic City's first casino-hotel implosion.
The Sands demolition also marks the first casino implosion ever on the East Coast. The Sands and adjacent buildings are being razed to make way for the development of Pinnacle Entertainment's new megaresort, which is scheduled to open in 2011 or 2012.
The structures to be demolished are situated on an 18-acre parcel of land. They include the 21-story Sands Casino Hotel, the nine-story Sands parking garage, the former Jefferson Hotel and other acquired properties. Preliminary demolition work has begun, with the implosion slated for this fall, pending state and local approvals.
"We're proud to have assembled a first-class team to ensure the success, safety and excitement of this landmark event," said Daniel R. Lee, Pinnacle's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "While the implosion of the Sands will mark the end of one era, it will signal the beginning of another -- Pinnacle's new destination casino resort project planned for the center of the world-famous Atlantic City Boardwalk."
R.E. Pierson Construction Co. will serve as the general demolition contractor, responsible for overall site preparation activities, such as asbestos abatement, materials recycling and debris removal. Past projects include the dismantlement of the 38-story One Meridian Plaza office building in Center City Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Civic Center, and the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.
Controlled Demolition, Inc. (CDI) will be responsible for the overall implosion design, drilling operations and explosives placement. Most recently, CDI participated in the demolition of the Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas. In addition, CDI was responsible for the implosions of several other Las Vegas landmarks, including the Aladdin, Dunes, Sands and Hacienda Hotels.
PS&S will provide various consulting services, including environmental services related to existing hazardous or environmentally sensitive materials on site, geotechnical/foundation engineering services associated with the removal of existing foundations, and structural engineering consulting services as related to existing superstructure issues. PS&S lent their expertise to several other Atlantic City properties, including Trump Taj Mahal and Steel Pier, Harrah's Entertainment, Showboat Casino Hotel, the Atlantic City Hilton, and the Borgata.
As America's first family of fireworks and the top name in fireworks entertainment, Grucci is known for creating spectacular fireworks extravaganzas for some of the biggest special events around the world. Working in conjunction with the implosion, Grucci will create an elaborate, state-of-the-art fireworks and light show, celebrating the commencement of construction of Pinnacle's new resort.
About Pinnacle Entertainment
Pinnacle Entertainment owns and operates casinos in Nevada, Louisiana, Indiana, Missouri, Argentina and The Bahamas; owns a hotel in Missouri; and has significant insurance claims related to a hurricane-damaged hotel and casino complex previously operated in Biloxi, Mississippi. Pinnacle also has two casino development projects under construction in the St. Louis, Missouri area, which are dependent upon final approval by the Missouri Gaming Commission. Pinnacle is currently developing the Company's second casino resort in Lake Charles, Louisiana, to be called Sugarcane Bay, and anticipates developing a casino complex in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, subject to various approvals. Additionally, Pinnacle owns a casino site at the heart of the famed Boardwalk in Atlantic City, N.J. on which it plans to build a major new casino resort.
About R.E. Pierson Construction Co.
After several years operating as a sole proprietorship, Richard Pierson incorporated the main operating company, R.E. Pierson Construction Co., Inc., in 1980. Since that time Richard and key employees have propelled the company's steady growth in expertise, revenues and scope of services to the present day level. Initially concentrating on residential and commercial site development, Pierson has added greatly to their scope and strength of operations over the years, performing an increasing volume of public projects for local, county, state and federal agencies, as well as the retail and industrial site development market. Today, Pierson is regarded as one of the area's largest and best performing heavy and highway construction firms. http://www.repdemo.com
About Controlled Demolition, Inc.
CDI demolishes structures with the kind of precision and planning usually associated with their creation. Each project is handled by a world-renowned team of experts drawing on backgrounds in environmental remediation, engineering, dismantling, traditional demolition, explosives, material handling and the latest technology to guarantee complete predictability. Having imploded, worldwide, more buildings, chimneys, towers, bridges, and other structures than its competitors combined, Controlled Demolition, Inc. has the technical expertise and track record to take on projects of any magnitude. In an industry where experience is everything, CDI stands alone in its pioneering vision, innovative spirit, and decades of leadership. http://www.controlled-demolition.com
About PS&S
Founded in 1962, Paulus, Sokolowski & Sartor (PS&S) has grown to be a unique architectural and engineering firm, providing design and permitting services to a wide range of corporate, institutional and commercial clients. People choose PS&S because they provide truly innovative, cost-effective, award-winning design services. Acquired by KeySpan Corporation (the largest natural gas distributor in the Northeast) in the year 2000, PS&S has benefited from their extensive expertise in utility plants to become a leading provider of energy services as well. http://www.psands.com
About Fireworks by Grucci
As America's First Family of Fireworks and the top name in fireworks entertainment, the Grucci family's three active generations work together day to day to manage one of the largest international fireworks entertainment companies and manufacturing firms in the world. As the innovators and creators of the state-of-the-art style of displaying fireworks, Grucci has produced all the major firework programs in the United States and many places in the world over the past decades. http://www.grucci.com
All statements included in this press release, other than historical information or statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the Company's future growth, construction projects and budgets/timelines and new development opportunities, are based on management's current expectations and are subject to risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances that could significantly affect future results. Accordingly, Pinnacle Entertainment cautions that the forward-looking statements contained herein are qualified by important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected by such statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: (a) the Company's substantial funding needs in connection with its development, expansion and other capital-intensive projects will require it to raise substantial amounts of money from outside sources; (b) insufficient or lower-than-expected results generated from the Company's new developments and acquired properties, including results from the opening of its new facilities, may not yield an adequate return on our substantial investments; (c) many construction-related factors, including the escalation of construction costs beyond increments anticipated in the Company's construction budgets, could prevent the Company from completing its construction and development projects within budget and on time; (d) the Company's Atlantic City project presents many risks, and it may not realize the financial and strategic goals that are contemplated from the development; (e) because the Company has considerable leverage, future cash flows may not be sufficient to meet its financial obligations and the Company might have difficulty obtaining additional financing; and (f) other risks, including those as may be detailed from time to time in Pinnacle Entertainment's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). For more information on the potential factors that could affect the Company's financial results and business, review the Company's filings with the SEC, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and its Current Reports on Form 8-K.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
At Pinnacle Atlantic City:
Carmen E. Gonzales - (609) 441-4467 / cgonzales@pnkacmail.com
Carl Zeitz - (609) 298-1004 / carl@river-front.com
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Source: Pinnacle Entertainment
