Bucks for the bang

By John G. Edwards
Review-Journal

      Sometime in the next millennium, archaeologists studying artifacts from Las Vegas may wonder about the religious significance of live building sacrifices.
      They may recover plastic ponchos, dust masks and goggles from the party slated by the Aladdin for Monday's sunset implosion of its 17-story hotel tower.
      They may read comments from merchants who consider the implosion so sacred that they set aside profit motives to celebrate the event.
     

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The Aladdin is using the event to benefit charity, for example. The casino developer hopes to raise $100,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southern Nevada. The casino is charging $250 a ticket for up to 1,000 people who will watch the building collapse from a nearby tent.
      The Aladdin is named after the fictional character who rubs a magic lamp, produces a genie and is granted three wishes. So it is a "perfect tie-in" for Make-A-Wish, said Karla Jacobson, executive director of the foundation that grants wishes for sick and dying children.
      The Harley-Davidson cafe just south of the Aladdin figures it could make lots of money by staying open during the implosion. But the motorcycle-themed restaurant instead will host a private party for LVI Environmental Services Inc., the company imploding the hotel.
      "It really wasn't about the money," explained Cory Stuler, the cafe's sales manager. "We wanted to be a part of a monumental occasion."
      Attendees will listen to the Love Shack band play music from the 1970s and '80s while they drink a blue, rum concoction called the Aladdin.
      Kiefer's, a restaurant on the ninth floor of the Carriage House at 105 E. Harmon Ave., just behind the Aladdin, is inviting locals to dine at a pasta buffet and watch the implosion for $25.
      "We decided not to charge too much," said Monty Criss, director of sales and operations. "We want to offer local people a great deal and have them back."
      Kiefer's is allowing KLAS-TV, Channel 8, to shoot the event from its roof and KVBC-TV, Channel 3, to shoot it from inside the restaurant.
      The Country Star American Music Grill intends to play host to 8,000 people and three television crews on its one-acre parking lot across the Strip from the Aladdin, said Don Miller, the eatery's general manager.
      Miller calls it a "good-old country tailgate party" complete with barbecue, Miller beer girls, two kinds of beer, Coca-Cola and disc jockeys from KFMS-FM 101.9.
      The first 102 people to show up will get free baseball caps and 1,000 will get coupons good for a $5 discount on a tribute show to Patsy Cline, the late country music legend whose hits include "I Fall to Pieces."

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