What was once is no more: Las Vegas 1990 - Page 3

mthq · #41 Posted **Aug 19, 2013, 2:35 AM**

Great to see this thread again. It would be great if someone can show us a modern day pano from the same vantage point and plinko took 23 years earlier. That would seriously be sweet.

DetroitSky · #42 Posted **Aug 20, 2013, 1:43 AM**

Wow, crazy how much things can change in so little time.

Chicano3000X · #43 Posted **Aug 20, 2013, 1:32 PM**

It's insane how much it has changed. I was there 2 weeks ago..

Surrealplaces · #44 Posted **Aug 23, 2013, 8:58 PM**

Some big changes to Vegas for sure. My first time there was 1989, and the most recent visit was 2011. Huge changes in that 22 year span.

MayDay · #45 Posted **Aug 25, 2013, 2:28 PM**

Put together very dreadfully and quickly, but here's a pano from February 2013:

Scrolllllll -------------->

And here's where the photo from plinko fits in:

Regarding the history of Vegas, I absolutely LOVED the Neon Sign Museum - I took quite a few photos during that trip:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...46#post6024046

mthq · #46 Posted **Sep 3, 2013, 7:32 AM**

^oh man thanks for that!

IMBY · #47 Posted **Oct 17, 2013, 10:59 AM**

Las Vegas has never had any historic preservationists, but if we had had them all along, most of those old hotels, particularly the Landmark, would still be there!

Yankeebiscuitfan · #48 Posted **Oct 17, 2013, 12:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by plinko

Vegas World...I think this became the Stratosphere? Not sure...

I think you are right. IMO Mc Donalds and Carl Jrs are pretty close to each other in the neighbourhood of the Stratosphere Tower.

Quote:

Originally Posted by plinko

I saved the best for last...this is an expansion to the Stardust...this building was actually torn down about two years ago...amazing...

In 1995 I slept a couple of nights in Stardust. Man that room appeared to me like one you find in a brothel. Furniture with marble look and a jacuzzi right in the center of the room.

sw5710 · #49 Posted **Oct 18, 2013, 12:39 AM**

The building in the 1st photo got a facelift and did become the Stratosphere.

subterranean · #50 Posted **Oct 18, 2013, 12:29 PM**

One of the few larger cities in this country that I've never been to. I knew the place had gone through a lot of changes, but hadn't realized to what extent in such a short period of time. Thanks for the history lesson.

RST500 · #51 Posted **Jan 18, 2015, 2:07 AM**

I just got back from Vegas. There's still a lot of historic stuff left. Lots of stuff on Fremont Street, Circus Circus, and the Riviera and Flamingo on the strip.

SS Rex · #52 Posted **Apr 7, 2015, 12:59 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by RST500

I just got back from Vegas. There's still a lot of historic stuff left. Lots of stuff on Fremont Street, Circus Circus, and the Riviera and Flamingo on the strip.

Flamingo may be an old hotel in the sense of it's business history, but structurally, everything from it's 1940s-60s history is completely gone. See below: 1946 and 2000s.

Riviera will be demolished this year, but it's original 1955 tower (currently the oldest thing on the strip) is hidden beneath several decades of expansion and garish remodeling.

montréaliste · #53 Posted **Apr 7, 2015, 2:40 PM**

I was in Vegas in december of 1990 like the pictures show. I remember staying at the old Stardust Motel and Casino. I say Motel because that is what it looked like rather than the expansive Bellagio with its fire-spitting fountains. Whatever happened to my matchbook from the Stardust? What's a matchbook, anyways?

bobdreamz · #54 Posted **Apr 7, 2015, 5:35 PM**

Wasn't this in the movie "Mars Attacks"(funny movie!) and it collapses? Interesting thread.

upward 2000 · #55 Posted **Apr 7, 2015, 8:14 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

Even younger buildings have been destroyed in Las Vegas. The Palm Tower ans St. Andrews Tower at the Desert Inn were built in 1997 and were demolished in 2004 to make way for the Wynn.

Construction begins on 5/5/15 on the old Stardust location.

mthq · #56 Posted **Apr 7, 2015, 11:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobdreamz

Wasn't this in the movie "Mars Attacks"(funny movie!) and it collapses? Interesting thread.

Yup. The tower (built and owned by Howard Hughes) was demolished, and the movie producers simply capitalized on the opportunity for life-like effects.

destroycreate · #57 Posted **Apr 8, 2015, 2:14 AM**

I think this is something that will always be a bit sad about Vegas...though many of the past hotels were ugly and not so en vogue, they were iconic pieces of the city's history. One day, very little will remain from the past. I think such "historical" places are very important to the character and soul of a city.

LAsam · #58 Posted **Apr 8, 2015, 4:26 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by destroycreate

I think this is something that will always be a bit sad about Vegas...though many of the past hotels were ugly and not so en vogue, they were iconic pieces of the city's history. One day, very little will remain from the past. I think such "historical" places are very important to the character and soul of a city.

I'd argue that Vegas has a history of continuous reinvention. No need to be sad, that's just what Vegas is.

Yorkie · #59 Posted **Apr 9, 2015, 10:11 PM**

Yea, take your money and run.......The place is nothing more than a mecca of illusion that needs too reinvent itself or it becomes obsolete..

SS Rex · #60 Posted **May 19, 2015, 4:26 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LAsam

I'd argue that Vegas has a history of continuous reinvention. No need to be sad, that's just what Vegas is.

Another vote from me for this point of view. I read dozens of people using the word "sad" to describe the closing (and coming demolition) of Riviera Hotel & Casino. What's sad is misplaced nostalgia, and the state of the hotel in decline over the last several decades.