Tropicana Hotel implosion in Vegas makes way for new A's ballpark

LAS VEGAS - The Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas was imploded Tuesday night to make way for a future A's ballpark after the team played its last Oakland game at the Coliseum last month.

The A's logo was lit up during the demolition, which also featured fireworks and drones.

It took 490 pounds of explosives to bring down the paradise tower, and another 1700 pounds of explosives to level the club tower.

The hotel casino was 67 years old and had two 23-year-story towers. It closed in April. 

A's owner John Fisher said that building a ballpark, wherever it is, is an "important step to a field of dreams." 

"It's been a long time coming," he said at a news conference in Vegas. "We really worked on the stadium effort 18 years ago. So to be here today, in front of the pyramids, which took over 18 years to build as well, the great pyramid."

Work crews will begin clearing the site, to set the stage for the A's new $1.5 billion stadium on the Vegas strip.

A total of $850 million will come in equity from Fisher, $350 million will come from state funding and $300 million will be debt taken on by the A's organization.