a total of $167 million, and the property became known as the MGM Sands. The next year, MGM sold it for $110 million to Las Vegas Sands, a new company formed by the owners of The Interface Group, including Sheldon Adelson, Richard Katzeff, Ted Cutler, Irwin Chafetz and Jordan Shapiro. The same year, it was licensed by the Nevada Gaming Commission, and Adelson became a casino magnate. In the early 1990s, Adelson built the Sands Expo, a convention centre. In its final years, the Sands became a shadow of its former self — a throwback to the old days — and it ultimately could not compete with the newer and more exciting mega-resorts that were being built on the Strip. However, a 1990s travel guide stated that the hotel gardens and pool area still retained the ambiance of the classic Sands days. The decision was eventually made by its final owner, Sheldon Adelson, to shut it down and to build a brand new resort. The last dice in the casino was rolled by Bob Stupak just after 6:00p.m. on June30, 1996. On November26, 1996, it was imploded and demolished, much to the dismay of longtime employees and sentimentalists. Footage of the demolition also appeared in the closing credits of The Cooler. The climactic plane crash in 1997's Con Air ended with the aircraft crashing into the soon-to-be-demolished Sands' lobby. On May 3, 1999, the new $1.5 billion megaresort The Venetian opened where the Sands had formerly been, a 35-story hotel with 3,036 rooms, covering an area of . It became the largest AAA Five-Diamond landmark in North America. Architecture Wayne McAllister designed the original $5.5 million Sands Hotel, an exotic-looking terracotta red-painted modern hotel with a prominent porte cochere at the front, surrounded by a zig-zag wall ornamented with tiled planters. The hotel is arguably most associated with its high sign, made iconic with photographs of the Rat Pack standing underneath it. The name "Sands", written in elegant italics, featured a high letter "S", and the name was sprawled across an egg crate grill, cantilevered from a pillar. The sign was receptive to the light and shadow of the desert, and during night time it was lit up, glowing neon red. It was the tallest sign on the strip for a number of years. Beneath "Sands" was the tagline "A Place in the Sun", written in smaller capital letters. Below