After years of rumors and even announcements that proved to be premature, it's finally happening: The Tropicana — one of the oldest mega-resorts in Las Vegas — will close April 2 and will soon after be torn down and asunder to build a big, huge, colossal baseball stadium to house the A's.
The word is that this is not the end of that hotel; that they'll tear it down, build the new stadium and then at some point build something that will be called The Tropicana on whatever remaining ground there is to build upon. But it's certainly the end of what's there now.
Which doesn't bother me one bit. It has long been a place that seemed likely to fall down on its own if urban renewal didn't beat gravity to the punch. It was an unremarkable place offering nothing that twelve dozen other casinos aren't offering and offering better.
No, my regret (if you can call it that) is that another vestige of Old Vegas is biting the felt. Old Vegas, like New Vegas, existed so you could lose oodles of loot at the slots, the tables, the wheels and every other kind of gaming they could offer.
The difference was that your losses in Old Vegas could be mitigated a bit by cheap food, cheap shows, cheap rooms and cheap tourist-trappers. New Vegas does away with all that unprofitable mitigation. Oh, you can sometimes score a cheap hotel room but it's only cheap until they tack on the Mandatory Resort Fee.
And there's plenty to look at but eventually you're going to need to eat. Or do something besides sight-see. Anyone want to guess what they'll charge for a seat to see a game or anything at the [Whatever Corporation Buys The Naming Rights] stadium?
I used to love going to Old Vegas. All I can do now is hope maybe they're hiding it in Reno or Laughlin.