The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) voted by a margin of 13-0 to acquire the Riviera Las Vegas for $182.5 million. The Las Vegas Strip’s oldest casino sits on a 26-acre footprint to the north of existing land previously acquired by the LVCVA.
The Riviera will celebrate its 60th birthday on April 20. It will close forever just two weeks later. The Riviera is set to cease operations on May 4, 2015. An implosion would occur later in the year.
An estimated 1,000 part and full time employees will be laid off by the Riviera. An estimated 6,000 construction and an additional 6,000 permanent positions are projected to be created by the LVCVA’s massive expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center.
The first phase of the expansion will include nearly one million square feet of combined exhibit and convention space. This will also include an internal transportation system to help move guests from the Las Vegas Strip entrance throughout the property, which runs east and south of the intersection of Paradise Road and Convention Center Drive.
Vegas visitors on a budget will miss the appeal of the Riviera’s old school prices. Riviera spreads $1 blackjack tables and $1-$2-$3 drink specials at the casino bar. It also offers the most affordable hotel rooms on the Strip. R Steakhouse is an old school dining experience that will also be lost, with prices that cater to most guests. Las Vegas visitors looking for properties similar to Riviera will now need to go downtown.
One major entertainment option that has been spread at Riviera since the 80’s will find a new home. Crazy Girls, a topless revue at Riviera, will find a new home in Las Vegas, as reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. It will also relocate the famous statue promoting the show that now sits just outside of Riviera. An announcement about the new venue is expected within a week.
The R-J also reported that 150,000 room nights needed to be refunded for rooms that were reserved after the May 4, 2015 closure date. The massive task of notifying these guests begins immediately. There are also many conventions and conferences that will need to find a new venue as its 140,000 square feet of meeting space will no longer be available.
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