In an interview, Mr. Kim said that the restructuring was ultimately an opportunity to increase employment.
« The Trop is obviously iconic, but it’s, really, in many ways, economically obsolete, » Kim said, noting that the 35-acre site was worth more than the casino’s current economic capacity. « It’s literally part of the glitz and glamor of Las Vegas, but it hasn’t been for decades, » he added, noting that when it came to signing a deal to develop the site for a baseball stadium, it was a « no – brainy.
Culinary Workers Union Local 226, which represents tens of thousands of workers across Nevada, has promised to protect employees of the Tropicana. « The unit can help them find work during renovation or rebuilding, and these workers need to be hired first, » Ted Pappageorge, the union’s secretary-treasurer, said in an interview, noting that the workers’ contract stipulates that getting a severance package. Not all casino workers, however, are union members. « They are at the whim of the employer, » said Mr Pappageorge.
Tawana Moore, a 17-year chambermaid at Tropicana and a member of the union, said Thursday that workers have not heard from the company since the bill was signed into law. « We’ve made this our home, » Ms. Moore said in a previous interview. “We’re sad, but happy at the same time — sad because we’ve been here forever, and some people don’t know how to start over, and some people are happy, because change is good. I welcome the change.
The impending stadium deal isn’t the first time Tropicana has come under threat. Shortly after the 300-room resort opened, an attempt on crime boss Frank Costello’s life exposed his ties to the casino, plunging it into controversy. By the 1970s, the resort was already struggling to compete with larger operations like Caesars Palace, and by the end of that decade, the FBI had exposed a crowd skimming operation which eventually forced the owners to sell the property. The Tropicana has changed hands several times since then.
