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August 18, 2005 - Castaways being demolished
Jul. 07, 2005 - Demolition of shuttered casino will begin
Castaways hotel-casino imploded in Las Vegas
Associated Press
January 11, 2006 at 8:12:10 PST
LAS VEGAS (AP) - A hotel-casino that opened in 1955 as the Showboat, and was more recently known the Castaways, collapsed into history Wednesday when it was demolished by implosion.
The 19-story Castaways, about three miles east of downtown Las Vegas, had been closed since changing hands in a bankruptcy proceeding in January 2004.
A series of staccato explosions brought the 447-room building down in a heap and raised a huge cloud of dust just after 7 a.m.
The current owner, Las Vegas-based Station Casinos Inc., has not announced plans for the site on Boulder Highway near Charleston Boulevard.
1954 Opened - 2800 Fremont St
1996 Renovation and Expansion $20 M
2000 Sold to VSS Enterprises for $23.5 M and Re-Named "Castaways" (Includes Other Assets)
2000 Opened Under New Name "Castaways" - 2800 Fremont St.
2004 Closed and Sold to Vestin Mortgage for $20.7 M
2004 Sold to MGI Group for Undisclosed Amount
2004 Sold to Station Casinos for $33.7 M
Closed on January 29, 2004
The Desert Showboat Motor Inn, built in the shape of a Mississippi
riverboat with paddlewheel and smokestacks was the first resort hotel
built inside the Las Vegas city limits. Opened in 1954 at 2800 East
Fremont Street (Boulder Highway), which is a long ways from Casino
Center downtown, it did not attract large numbers of out-of-state
customers. In 1959 a 24-lane bowling alley was built and the hotel
hosted the first Las Vegas open, one of seven P.B.A. bowling events at
the time. By 1979, the Showboat was the third largest bowling center in
America with 106 lanes.
A Las Vegas landmark since 1954, the Castaways
(formerly the Showboat) opened as a 100-room motel and casino. After millions
of dollars were invested in expansions, the hotel now has 445 modern guest
rooms, a 106-lane bowling center, an 80,000 square-foot casino, three
restaurants, a showroom and Las Vegas' largest bingo parlor.
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