Las Vegas bids farewell to Eastside Cannery, in another explosive farewell.
Demolition crews are scheduled to implode the completed property’s hotel tower at 2 a.m. Thursday.
Casino implosions in Las Vegas are often early-morning parties, with fireworks and crowds of people gathering to watch and cheer on the destruction.
However, the Eastside Cannery implosion is not a public event and there will be no designated public viewing areas.
Eastside Cannery, on Boulder Highway at Harmon Avenue in the east Las Vegas Valley, has been closed since the pandemic began.
Its footprint spans approximately 29.5 acres, and owner Boyd Gaming Corp. have said there was insufficient market demand to reopen the hotel casino and that they intend to sell the site for residential use.
Work crews were demolishing parts of the property recently, but the hotel tower, which was cut out and stripped of windows, is still standing.
Pull permit
Boyd acquired the Cannery hotel casino in North Las Vegas and the Eastside Cannery for about $230 million combined in 2016.
In total, the Eastside Cannery contained over 300 hotel rooms, a 64,000-square-foot casino, several bars and restaurants, a 250-seat entertainment lounge, and 20,000 square feet of meeting and ballroom space.
The Clark County Building Department issued a $7.5 million commercial demolition permit for the site in October.
It also recently issued a $487,210 commercial implosion demolition permit for the 16-story hotel tower, records show.
That permit lists Controlled Demolition Inc. as the contractor. According to its website, the company has brought down hotels, office buildings, nuclear power plants, sports fields and other types of structures.
In Las Vegas, it was the explosives subcontractor for the 2024 Tropicana hotel-casino implosion, its website shows.
Police and fire drills
Although Eastside Cannery was closed for business, other organizations were using the site, as described in a 2024 letter to county officials from Michelle Rasmusson, Boyd’s chief compliance officer.
Three Square Food Bank used the property for a weekly food distribution site during the pandemic, and the Metropolitan Police Department conducted training exercises there, including room clearing and active shooter drills.
The Clark County Fire Department also used the property for stairwell training and to practice room searches and elevator rescues.
Contact Eli Segall at esegall@ theplayerlounge.com or 702-383-0342.
