Former Tropicana owner remembers glory days before implosion

After 67 years on the Strip, we are at the end of an era in Las Vegas. The last buildings still standing from the Tropicana Hotel & Casino will be imploded Wednesday morning .

“I came when it opened and I’ll be there when it closes," said Tropicana owner from 1974 through 1979, Fred Doumani. “There were no high risers then, it was all two and three stories."

It was the 'Tiffany of the Strip' as they called it, the hotel was absolutely gorgeous.

Doumani said under his leadership, they ushered in a new wave of Strip hotels .

“We built the first high rise, the one that’s closest to the Strip that will be imploded," Doumani said.

The 89-year-old former owner plans to be front and center to watch the implosion of that tower.

Doumani said it'll be sad to see the Tropicana turned to rubble .

I last spoke with Doumani earlier this year shortly after the Tropicana officially closed its doors forever on April 2.

He said the Tropicana ending means he's witnessing a piece of his own personal history being erased .

He said an original Strip hote l was a thing of beauty that glittered under his ownership, with the Follies Bergere and great after-hours lounge acts.

It is the end of an era, there are no more original hotels to be knocked down really.

Doumani said he hopes the new ballpark will allow the property it sits on to shine once again and he's hopeful people who enjoyed the Tropicana will keep its memory alive forever.

“Well, I hope they remember that it was really a beautiful resort and completely different than the way hotels are now,"Doumani said.