R.I.P. Sands (1980-2007)

In August 1980, The Brighton was the first casino in town built from the ground up, on the site of its former namesake at Indiana Avenue & Brighton Park. After a healthy opening, financial troubles soon arrived. Some say it was due to the casino’s diminutive size. Others say it was poor management. Whatever the case, it was sold two months later to the PPI Corporation, which also owned the Sands in Las Vegas. To capitalize on the famed casino and to hopefully conjure images of Frank, Dean and Sammy, the Brighton was renamed The Sands the next May.

Tonight the Sands will be imploded to make way for a massive resort ala Borgata.

last November, the legendary carpet joint threw its last pair of dice, leaving only 10 casinos standing in Atlantic City. For now, that is. Before its new owners Pinnacle Entertainment begin construction on their ambitious $1.5 billion megaresort, much had to be done to the Sands building before it's even razed.

Pinnacle CEO and Chairman Dan Lee enlightened the local press on a few post-shutdown procedures. For starters, everything had to be accounted for like slots, table games, chips, cards, dice and other gambling items.



State gaming regulators gave the company approval to recycle the old gaming equipment in their other casinos. In addition, light fixtures had to be removed and there will likely be a salvage sale for such industrial items as copper wiring and windows. A public liquidation of old furniture also was held.

Upon the Sands’ closing, many wondered the fate of The Madison House, a 120-suite boutique hotel operated by the Sands and one of the Atlantic City’s few remaining grand old inns. The snag? It opened in 1930 and is currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Interestingly, the Sands had 12 years left on its lease. "We can't tear it down. We'll probably use it to house construction workers. However, we don't know what the future of Madison House will be," Lee said. Pinnacle expects to begin construction on its new resort in 2008 and open it by early 2011.

We'll miss ya! Say hi to Frank at the Big Casino in the Sky...