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Las Vegas hotel, casino goes poofThe Castaways folds in planned implosion
 The Castaways crashes to the ground Wednesday morning. LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AP) -- After spending two shuttered years living up to its name, the Castaways hotel and casino went out with a bang Wednesday morning. A series of planned explosions reduced the 19-story tower to a 20,000-ton heap of rubble and raised a huge cloud of dust just after dawn. The Castaways had been closed since changing hands in a bankruptcy proceeding in January 2004. "It just went real smooth," Las Vegas fire spokesman Tim Szymanski said as street sweepers deployed on closed thoroughfares and neighborhood streets. (Watch Las Vegas landmark go down in smoke -- 1:00) The 447-room building opened in 1955 as the Showboat, which hosted professional bowling tour events. It changed hands several times in the 1990s and struggled for years before being crippled by a tourism slowdown following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The current owner, Las Vegas-based Station Casinos Inc., has not announced plans for the site, about 3 miles east of the Las Vegas Strip. Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 
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