Sands to go out with a bang on Oct. 18

The Sands Casino Hotel will come crashing down Oct. 18 in a spectacular implosion that will light up the nighttime sky and give the Boardwalk some Las Vegas-style pyrotechnical pizazz.

A six-minute fireworks display will build excitement before a series of controlled explosions rips through the 21-story hotel tower at 9:30 p.m. and brings it down in a giant cloud of dust and debris.

The Sands was in business for 26 years, but its dramatic demolition will reduce it to rubble in mere seconds. The old gaming hall, which closed for good on Nov. 11, is being razed to make way for a new $1.5 billion megaresort by Las Vegas-based Pinnacle Entertainment Inc.