The tallest building in Nevada – the 76-storey Fontainebleau casino in Las Vegas – is set to finally open by the end of 2023, having sat vacant since its construction was halted in 2009.
After the recession put a stop to construction of the $2.9 billion structure, it changed hands several times before being reacquired by Fontainebleau in February this year.
While the enormous structure has hardly been abandoned since 2009 – interim owners pumped tens of millions into keeping the infrastructure in mint condition – the story of the Fontainebleau casino highlights the changing fortunes of the gambling industry and shows that, just sometimes, the house doesn’t win.
The online gaming company, Party Casino, has researched the most fascinating abandoned casinos from around the world, while the Fontainebleau casino is now set to open, other establishments have not been so lucky in the hands they have been dealt.
Casino di Consonno, Italy
In the 1960s, the eccentric entrepreneur Count Mario Bagno bought the entire town of Consonno for 22.5 million lire (around £10,000) and razed it to the ground in order to build his brainchild, Citta dei Balocchi – the City of Toys. Designed to be a playground for the wealthy of nearby Milan, the City of Toys was supposed to include everything from a car racing circuit to football fields, a zoo and even a fake castle. The Casino di Consonno was one of the few elements that actually got built and enjoyed a short period of success until the mid-1970s. But the Count’s constantly changing plans meant the ‘city’ was never finished and he abandoned it in 1985. After his death in 1995, his estate shut the whole town and it has been slowly decaying ever since, with the casino the spooky centrepiece of an urban explorer’s dream site.
Penthouse Adriatic Club Casino Croatia
Image courtesy of Ilona Schuhmacher – Instagram: @bergliebe_
Opened in 1972 at the Haludova Hotel, the brainchild of Penthouse founder Bob Guccioni who spent $45 million on the complex, the casino went bankrupt the following year and closed. The hotel fared little better, going through several ownerships; during the Yugoslav civil war, it was used to house refugees before being privatised in 1995 and hosting its final guests in 2001. Since then, it has lain dormant and decaying.
Casino Constanta, Romania
Image courtesy of Marco Nanni. Instagram marco_nanni85
Casino Constanta, Romania – Built in 1910 on Romania’s Black Sea coast, this art nouveau palace featured two games rooms, reading rooms, a dance hall, theatre, restaurant and terrace with a sea view. During the First World War, it was used as a Red Cross hospital and during WWII, German troops were stationed there. It was renovated twice but ultimately closed in 1990 because of high operating costs. Since 2014, the building has been slowly crumbling, leaving it a dilapidated shell of its former self.
