Bally’s Donates Tropicana Relics to UNLV Ahead of Implosion

Bally’s Corporation, the operator of the to-be-imploded Tropicana Las Vegas, has agreed to donate a variety of memorabilia to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The casino company was contacted by the university’s Special Collections and Archives department, which wanted to preserve a part of the historic resort.

The Oakland A’s New Stadium Will Replace the Tropicana

Tropicana Las Vegas is set to be demolished tomorrow, marking the end of one of the oldest and best-known properties in Sin City. While many were let down by the decision to destroy the property, they will at least be able to relive memories of the casino hotel at UNLV.

The university contacted Bally’s as soon as it heard that it was going to demolish the property. The casino company had purchased the property in 2022 for $148 million but decided to put an end to it not too long after.

Despite its historic status, the Tropicana had been struggling businesswise, failing to replicate its golden age success. As a result, Bally’s decided to demolish the building and free the space up for other ventures. The Tropicana site is set to be used to build a cutting-edge stadium for the Oakland Athletics.

The demolition work has already been started, with the Tropicana building set to be imploded tomorrow, October 9. The ongoing demolition reflects Las Vegas’ ethos of prioritizing innovation and change over history.

A History Preserved

While the Tropicana will be demolished, a part of it will live in the memorabilia that has been handed to UNLV. The collection includes architectural drawings, business reports, menus, training manuals, etc.

Sarah Quigley, director of the UNLV Special Collections and Archives department, spoke with Casino.org on the matter, saying that her team met with Tropicana representatives as soon as Bally’s decided to demolish the building.

According to Quigley, the training manuals are very valuable as they provide insight into the past and how the casino was operated.

For example, we have the manual that they gave to their phone operators, which describes not only how they were to run the telecoms, but the expectations from them in terms of customer service.

Sarah Quigley, director, Special Collections and Archives department

She added that such information would help historians understand how the business was run and how the property remained open for so long.

Quigley added that there are also more “glamorous” items that her team has secured, including photos, brochures and even a box of unseen film reels from the Folies Bergère show, which ran from 1959 to 2009. The director noted that her team will likely digitalize this footage  and put it online “when the time comes.”