LAS VEGAS (AP) — A 4,400-pound explosive punch has turned a Las Vegas hotel into a pile of rubble.

The 12-story Clarion casino-hotel was brought down just before 3 a.m. Tuesday. It became the 13th hotel to gain implosion infamy in a town that explodes the old to make way for the new.

The 200-room casino-hotel opened in 1970 and was called the Debbie Reynolds — for its one-time owner — as well as the Greek Isles, the Paddle Wheel and Royal Inn.

The site's owner and developer, Lorenzo Doumani, says he hopes 13 will turn out to be his lucky number as he works up a plan to eventually build a 60-story casino-free hotel.

The Clarion is the first hotel to be imploded in Las Vegas since 2007, when the New Frontier and Stardust were demolished. Part of the Tropicana was imploded in 2010, and a parking structure off the Strip was demolished in 2012.

(Story by: Kimberly Pierceall, The Associated Press)

 

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