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Demolition of Las Vegas icon the Riviera complete

Written by Ben Blaschke

The second tower of the Riviera was demolished late last week, bringing an end the Las Vegas icon’s colorful 60-year history.

Two months after the 24-storey Monaco Tower was brought crashing down, the job is now complete with the smaller Monte Carlo Tower having followed suit.

Demolition of the second tower had been delayed due to the presence of asbestos which required workers to wrap the entire building in plastic and manually removing some of the debris to prevent asbestos particles becoming airborne.

The Riviera opened in 1955 and alongside other famous Las Vegas Strip properties of the time such as the Flamingo, Dunes and Stardust played a key role in the city’s mobster history.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which purchased the property for US$182.5 million last year, will use the site to expand its Las Vegas Convention Center.