Casino Hotel Starts Off with a Bang

In a controlled implosion earlier this week, one of the flagship Las Vegas institutions, the 60 floors tall Wynn Las Vegas made way for a new addition. The bang and the buck to follow (in the costs that the new addition will cost) are felt around the world.

The blast took place on the night between Monday and Tuesday, at 2:30 AM a typical hour for casino activities, certainly. But the sums of money involved are certainly much greater than any sum that rolls on the floors at any given night. The new addition is estimated to cost $1.74 billion. The hotel's 2,716 rooms will nearly double with the construction of another 2,034 suites. The date they are expected to be available for the first hotel guests to arrive is sometime in 2009.

The implosion is no stranger to the history of the Wynn, as a matter of fact. In November 2004, the location of the existing was itself destroyed in a great implosion to make room for it. The new addition will be called the Encore. In it, as in the existing section, gamblers and guests will be able to use their room key as their gambling card, both in one. To get there, however, guests must walk off the famous Las Vegas Strip, as the hotel is located off of the famous avenue. The implosions, however, can be seen clearly from the Strip, or from miles away.