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ATLANTIC CITY, N.J., Oct. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. last night cleared the way for its planned multi-billion-dollar gaming resort at the heart of the famed Boardwalk with a spectacular implosion of the former Sands Casino Hotel. The nitroglycerin- fueled blast marked the first nighttime implosion in New Jersey and first-ever casino-hotel implosion on the East Coast.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20071019/NEF023 )

Today, all that remains of the Sands is more than 100,000 tons of rubble from the casino and the 21-story hotel tower, which is scheduled to be removed in 5,000 truckloads for recycling into road construction material.

"The implosion is a milestone event in the history of Atlantic City and of Pinnacle Entertainment," said Daniel R. Lee, chairman and chief executive officer of Pinnacle Entertainment. "Our plans can now move forward to develop a project that will help transform the Atlantic City gaming, hospitality and convention industry."

Kim Townsend, Chief Executive Officer of Pinnacle Atlantic City, said, "This celebration marks the end of our first year in Atlantic City, and underscores our commitment to the community and the region. We look forward to building a new-generation gaming resort that will add to the success, energy and excitement of Atlantic City."

More than 700 guests of Pinnacle attended the implosion, including Gov. Jon S. Corzine, other prominent state and local public officials, members of the New Jersey and Atlantic City business, labor and civic communities, and members of the company's corporate family. Thousands of members of the public witnessed the implosion from the Atlantic City beach and Boardwalk, with hundreds of other spectators watching from the roofs and windows of nearby resorts.

The event, planned with great attention to every detail, began at 9:15 p.m. when Ms. Townsend introduced the governor and Mr. Lee for brief remarks. At 9:30 p.m., Fireworks by Grucci, the top name in fireworks entertainment, set the stage with a six-minute, state-of-the-art fireworks show, the largest rooftop fireworks display ever in New Jersey.

The countdown began following the fireworks, concluding as Mr. Lee and Gov. Corzine jointly pressed a plunger for the 17-second implosion.

In preparation for the implosion, Controlled Demolition, Inc. (CDI) set 550 charges on the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 10th and 15th floors of the Sands. During the months prior to the implosion the demolition team lead by R.E. Pierson Construction Co., and also including CDI and Paulus, Sokolowski & Sartor (PS&S), undertook preparatory mechanical demolition, materials recycling and removal of debris.

The Sands covered approximately 6.5 acres of Pinnacle Atlantic City's current 20-acre site. The Sands, which opened in 1980 as the Brighton Casino Hotel, was among the smallest of the city's casino hotels, and was acquired by Pinnacle in November 2006.

About Pinnacle Entertainment

Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. owns and operates casinos in Nevada, Louisiana, Indiana, Missouri, Argentina and The Bahamas; owns a hotel in Missouri; and has significant insurance claims related to a hurricane-damaged hotel and casino complex previously operated in Biloxi, Mississippi. The Company is building a $500 million casino hotel in downtown St. Louis, scheduled to open in December. Pinnacle also has a second casino development project under construction in the St. Louis, Missouri area. The opening of both Missouri casinos is dependent upon final approval by the Missouri Gaming Commission. Pinnacle is currently developing a second casino resort in Lake Charles, Louisiana, to be called Sugarcane Bay; anticipates developing a casino resort in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to be called Riviere; and has submitted a proposal for a casino resort in Kansas City, Kansas, subject to various approvals. Additionally, Pinnacle owns a casino site at the heart of the famed Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on which it plans to build a major new casino resort.

All statements included in this press release, other than historical information or statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the Company's future growth, construction projects and budgets/timelines, potential job and tax revenue creation, and new development opportunities, are based on management's current expectations and are subject to risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances that could significantly affect future results. Accordingly, Pinnacle Entertainment cautions that the forward-looking statements contained herein are qualified by important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected by such statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: (a) the Company's substantial funding needs in connection with its development, expansion and other capital-intensive projects will require it to raise substantial amounts of money from outside sources; (b) the Company's Atlantic City project presents many risks, and it may not realize the financial and strategic goals that are contemplated from the development; (c) because the Company has considerable leverage, future cash flows may not be sufficient to meet its financial obligations and the Company might have difficulty obtaining additional financing; (d) the Company may not meet the conditions for receipt or maintenance of gaming licensing approvals, including for our St. Louis City and County projects, Sugarcane Bay and Baton Rouge projects, some of which are beyond our control; (e) the Company's proposal for the Kansas City project is subject to competitive bidding and the Company may not be selected by the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas; (f) the terms of the Company's credit facility and the indentures governing its subordinated indebtedness impose operating and financial restrictions on the Company; and (g) other risks, including those as may be detailed from time to time in Pinnacle Entertainment's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). For more information on the potential factors that could affect the Company's financial results and business, review the Company's filings with the SEC, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and its Current Reports on Form 8-K.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - In about the same time it takes for a roulette ball to fall and settle on a number, the Sands Casino Hotel was demolished Thursday night.

It took less than 20 seconds for the 21-story, 500-room tower where Frank Sinatra once held court to come crashing to the ground shortly after 9:30 p.m. in the first implosion of an East Coast casino.

The demolition makes way for a mega-casino to be built on the Sands site by Pinnacle Entertainment at an estimated cost of $1.5 billion to $2 billion. The as-yet unnamed complex is to open in late 2011 or early 2012.

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As a fireworks display bathed the area in multicolored flashes of light and a public address system blared Sinatra crooning "Bye Bye, Baby," Gov. Jon Corzine and Pinnacle chairman Daniel Lee pushed a wooden-handled plunger connected to a wire running to the building to set off the explosions.

A series of 17 loud booms echoed, tenths of a second apart. After a delay of about five seconds, the building keeled slightly to the northeast _ exactly as demolition crews said it would _ and collapsed on itself in a roar of debris and dust.

"It was awesome!" said James Mack of Whippany, who used to take bus rides to the Sands to gamble and catch a show. "It came straight down and didn't touch that other building right next to it. These guys know what they're doing."

Rocky Merrill, the former chief engineer at the Sands, once had to cut doors into the walls of an entire floor of rooms so Sinatra and his pals could mingle without having to go out into the hallway.

"It was a very homey place," he said. "Everybody felt at home there."

When it opened in August 1980, the Sands was called the Brighton Hotel & Casino, taking its name from a popular Atlantic City hotel of days gone by.

Standing outside the building among a crush of people waiting to get in on the first night was Lee, who had graduated from business school months earlier and landed a job with an investment bank that financed casinos, though not the Sands.

Years later, as chairman and CEO of Pinnacle, Lee was on hand to watch the Sands come down on his 51st birthday.

"This is the first building that I was in when it opened, and that I'll be there when it blows up," he said.

He said his new casino will meet the challenge of the new cutthroat competition in Atlantic City, where multibillion-dollar resorts are pushing older casinos out of business. The test, he said, is "to compete in this new world, or be the next implosion."

In its heyday, the Sands offered top-name entertainment. Sinatra played his final public concerts there in November 1994 at The Copa Room. Others who graced the stage included Sammy Davis Jr., Cher, Liza Minnelli, Robin Williams, Eddie Murphy, Billy Crystal and Gloria Estefan.

It was the first Atlantic City casino to offer poker.

But at 57,045 square feet of gambling space, the Sands had become the smallest of Atlantic City's 12 casinos before it closed last November. Its decor, while evoking the Sands in Las Vegas, was seen as dated here.

The Sands, like many other casinos here, lost gamblers and revenue to newer, larger, flashier competitors, particularly after 2003 when the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa opened and redefined customers' expectations of what the casino experience should be like in New Jersey.

By 1998, the Sands had already filed for bankruptcy, and two years later financier Carl Icahn took control of it.

He sold it to Pinnacle last year for $250 million, and the new owners quickly made plans to wipe it off the map. The new complex will not use the Sands name.

The new casino is to be built on the 18-acre site on the Boardwalk and will have 2,000 hotel rooms and 120,000 square feet of gambling space, along with convention and meeting room space, high-end retail shops and a large concert hall.

"It'll be a spectacular property," Lee promised, refusing to go into detail. "We're studying the best of the top hotels in Las Vegas and around the world, and there will be some new things that are not done anywhere else."

The company expects to break ground next year.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.