By JUDY DeHAVEN
Star-Ledger staff
Atlantic City, NJ, Oct. 18, 2007 — It was the first Atlantic City casino to deal a hand of poker. The first to offer exclusive suites and clubs for high rollers. And the first to command $200 for a headline act.
And today, the Sands casino hotel tower -- a skeleton of what it was when it closed for good last November -- will become the first Atlantic City casino to go up in a cloud of dust, unless a last-ditch effort to stop the proceedings is successful.
At about 9:30 tonight, Pinnacle plans to send the Sands out Las Vegas style, just like the Aladdin, the Dunes, and most recently, the Stardust before it.
After a fireworks show -- New Jersey's first rooftop display -- and a series of bangs and thuds, there will be a brief pause. And then the legendary Sands will collapse into a pile of rubble.
The first "bang" to the tower's fall will take just 17.9 seconds.
And at some point over the next year, long after 79,000 tons of construction debris are trucked away to a landfill in Tullytown, Pa., Pinnacle will unveil plans for a new multibillion-dollar resort to replace it, part of some $10 billion in new investment Atlantic City could see over the next four years.
But Kim Townsend, chief executive officer of Pinnacle's Atlantic City project, said the discussion about the company's big resort plans will have to wait. Today will be all about the Sands. The casino that hit so many first's during its 26-year life is now doomed to die at the hands of 800 sticks of dynamite.
But this is no funeral. The Sands is set to go out in a blaze of glory.
"This will be the largest, most spectacular rooftop fireworks in New Jersey history," Townsend said in an interview last week. "And we are very excited about that."
THE PARTY
It's easy to find gamblers nostalgic for the old Sands. But the crowds expected tonight will mostly be looking for a reason to party. The high rollers at Bally's and the Trump Taj Mahal can view the blast from the comfort of inside those casinos. Former Sands customers have been invited to a special viewing party at Resorts. And Atlantic City Cruisers has two boats sailing out of Gardner's Basin for its "implosion cruises."
The rest of us will be partying on the beach, the Boardwalk, or, if you are one of the nongambling VIPs -- like Gov. Jon Corzine and Pinnacle CEO Dan Lee -- you can snag a pass to watch the show from inside a tent in a nearby lot.
But even the VIPs can be expected to get dirty. Very dirty. The Sands will take just seconds to fall, but, depending on weather conditions, will envelop blocks of Atlantic City in a gigantic cloud of dust.
Because of that, weather has become an obsession.
"It's a little like looking at the stock market," Townsend said. "We try not to look at it every hour -- just twice a day."
No matter. Townsend said the show will go on regardless of rain.
"Quite frankly, a little mist wouldn't offend us because it would keep the dust volumes down," Townsend said.
THE PAST
There was a time, way back in the '80s, when the Sands was the place to be. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld got his start there. Former Philadelphia Eagles owner Leonard Tose met his downfall at the blackjack tables. And Frank Sinatra held court with the other Rat Packers.
The legendary Copa Room was the stage for Cher, Liza Minnelli, Billy Crystal and George Carlin. But those were the good old days. Then the Sands, long hampered by its small size and location set back from the Boardwalk, began its demise. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1998, but the hopes promised when billionaire businessman Carl Icahn bought it out of bankruptcy never materialized.
Last year, Icahn sold the Sands to Pinnacle. Then came the goodbye. The Copa Room went dark Nov. 4, with Ben Vereen as its last performer. The last roll of the dice took place 5:45 a.m. Nov. 11.
Since then, Pinnacle has been gearing up for this big day. First it held a liquidation sale, getting rid of everything from toilets to carpets to cookware. Then the demolition crews started stripping the joint, using an elevator shaft as a dump chute.
Bob Stecher, demolition manager for R.E. Pierson Construction, said what made the Sands unique was "there was an unbelievable amount of material" behind the walls.
Included among the debris was a stash of $10 counterfeit bills one worker found. Another discovered a day-timer -- with $60, a checkbook and driver's license -- that former Sands shift supervisor Avis Kirk lost six years ago; it had fallen behind a wall on the third floor.
THE BLAST
The actual casino of the Sands has already been torn down. It will now be the landing place for the 21-story hotel tower, stripped to its core, that will be imploded tonight.
Last week, crews from Pierson, which is based in Pilesgrove, were busy drilling 550 holes in over 200 columns in the ground, second, fifth, 10th and 15th floors. Then they double-wrapped the columns in chain-link fence and covered them in geo-textile fabric to keep debris from flying.
Those holes were later stuffed 400 pounds of explosives -- about a half pound in each hole -- or 800 sticks of dynamite.
In an interview last week, Thom Doud, superintendent of Controlled Demolition, which is part of the implosion team, described tonight's blast down to the last detail.
"What you're going to hear is ... 3, 2, 1, fire," Doud said. "Then a series of explosions: Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Those are all of our primary delays going off. You'll see the structure will remain static -- it will almost look like it didn't work.
"There'll be a slight pause," Doud continued. "And then you'll start hearing the structural explosives ... a heavier, heartier thud, thud, thud, thud, thud. That will bring the building into motion."
The first round of explosions will take place in 9.6 seconds. The last -- which will bring the building down -- will happen in eight seconds.
The explosives were strategically placed, so the building will fall in a northwest direction.
After all that, officials said the crowds won't feel much of a ripple.
"The goal is to use the least amount of explosives possible," Doud said. "All we want to do is let the weight of the structure bring itself down. That's the goal."
THE CONTROVERSY
All of this is, of course, depends on what happens with a last-minute attempt to stop the implosion.
Late yesterday, the owner of a property near the blast site filed a complaint asking for an injunction to stop tonight's implosion, saying Sands owner Pinnacle Entertainment has yet to show proof there will be no dangerous materials in the dust.
Lawyer Clifford Van Syoc also said his client, Vincent Barth, who owns the Park Lane Apartment Hotel on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, wants compensation for business interruption, since his building will have to be evacuated.
"We've been asking again and again and again for proof the toxic stuff is gone," Barth said. "We're still waiting."
Pinnacle spokeswoman Pauline Yoshihashi said it was the company's policy not to comment on pending litigation. But the complaint was not stopping the company from plunging ahead with its plans.
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