Riviera (hotel and casino)

Riviera
Riviera facade in 2008
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Location	Winchester, Nevada
Address	2901 South Las Vegas Boulevard
Opening date	April 20, 1955
Closing date	May 4, 2015; 9 years ago (May 4, 2015)
No. of rooms	2,075
Total gaming space	103,800 sq ft (9,640 m2)
Permanent shows	An Evening at La Cage (1985–2009) Crazy Girls (1987–2015) Splash (1985–2006)
Casino type	Land-based
Owner	Riviera Holdings (1993–2015) Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (2015–16)
Operating license holder	Paragon Gaming (2013–2015)
Architect	Roy France and Son, Welton Becket, Harold Levitt, Martin Stern Jr.
Renovated in	1960, 1966, 1975, 1977, 1988-1990, 1999, 2012
Coordinates	36°08′06″N 115°09′43″W / 36.135°N 115.162°W / 36.135; -115.162
Website	rivierahotel.com

The Riviera (colloquially, "the Riv")^[1][2] was a hotel and casino on the northern Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada.^[3] It opened on April 20, 1955, and included a nine-story hotel featuring 291 rooms. The Riviera was the first skyscraper in the Las Vegas Valley, and was the area's tallest building until 1956. Various hotel additions would be made in later years, including a 12-story tower in 1966, a 17-story tower in 1975, and a 24-story tower in 1988. By the time of its closure in 2015, the resort included a 103,800 sq ft (9,640 m²) casino and 2,075 rooms.

In 1973, the Riviera was sold to businessman Meshulam Riklis, who owned it for the next two decades. The Riviera filed for bankruptcy in 1983, and targeted a middle-class demographic from that point on, which helped the property thrive. Changes included the addition of a Burger King in 1984, making the Riviera the first Strip property to feature a fast-food restaurant.

The Riviera emerged from bankruptcy in 1985, but filed again in 1991, amid an expansion project which went over budget. The property emerged in 1993, under the new ownership of Riviera Holdings Corporation. The property's convention space was expanded in the late 1990s, which helped keep the resort profitable. The Riviera was also host to a variety of live entertainment, including female impersonator Frank Marino (1985–2009) and a topless revue known as Crazy Girls (1987–2015).

In February 2015, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) purchased the 26-acre (11 ha) Riviera, at a cost of $191 million. The agency had plans to demolish the resort for a major expansion of its nearby Las Vegas Convention Center. The Riviera closed on May 4, 2015, and demolition was underway a year later. The 24-story tower was imploded on June 14, 2016, followed by the 12- and 17-story towers on August 16, 2016. The LVCVA's plans for the property changed after it acquired other nearby acreage. The new convention space was built on the Riviera's eastern portion, while 10 acres (4.0 ha) along the Strip were put up for sale in 2019.