page_title: The Strat (Las Vegas)
section_title: Carl Icahn ownership
hierarchical_section_title: The Strat (Las Vegas) / History / Carl Icahn ownership
caption_attribution_description: English: 2 Bay ERI antenna mounted atop The Stratosphere in Las Vegas.
context_page_description: The Strat Hotel, Casino and SkyPod is a hotel, casino and tower located on Las Vegas Boulevard just north of the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. The Strat is owned and operated by Golden Entertainment, which acquired the resort and three other properties from American Casino & Entertainment Properties for $850 million in 2017.
  The property's signature attraction is the 1,149 ft Stratosphere Tower, the tallest freestanding observation tower in the United States, and the second-tallest in the Western Hemisphere, surpassed only by the CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario. It is the tallest tower west of the Mississippi River and also the tallest structure in Las Vegas and in the state of Nevada. The hotel is a separate building with 24 stories, 2,427 rooms and an 80,000 sq ft casino. The Strat is located within the city limits of Las Vegas, and is sometimes considered to be the northernmost resort on the Las Vegas Strip, which is not located within the city.
  The Stratosphere, a project by Bob Stupak, began construction in 1991. The project integrated portions of the former Vegas World hotel-casino, which Stupak opened on the site in 1979.
context_section_description: Stupak, who had already made plans to move on to other projects, resigned as chairman less than three months after the opening, leaving Berman in charge. Stupak's statue was subsequently removed from the property. The resort's second phase was halted in August 1996, due to financial problems; the additional hotel building consisted of an unfinished, 15-story structure of concrete and rebar. Berman intended to make the resort profitable, but ultimately declared bankruptcy in January 1997. Stupak had previously called Berman "the best casino operator in the world," but later said about Grand Casinos' operation of the resort, "They just weren't up to it."
  Carl Icahn planned to purchase the bankrupt resort. In mid-1997, Stupak made a plan to regain control of the Stratosphere by producing a half-hour video criticizing Grand Casinos' board members. Stupak also considered developing a bankruptcy plan of his own to compete against Icahn and Grand Casinos. Ultimately, Stupak's video never aired on local television as scheduled, and Icahn gained control of the property in 1998. In the years after Icahn took over, Stupak sometimes visited the Stratosphere's Top of the World restaurant but was otherwise disinterested in the resort. In 2001, Stupak stated that he felt prouder when he opened his earlier casinos on the site in 1974 and 1979. Stupak stated his biggest disappointment with the Stratosphere was not being able to have it built to his initially planned 1,800-foot height.
  The second hotel tower, with 24 stories, was topped off on November 2, 2000. The $65 million project included 1,002 rooms, a 67,000 sq ft (6,200 m²) pool and recreation area, and a coffee shop. Excluding the new tower, the hotel had 1,444 rooms. The new project was meant to improve business at the casino and its retail mall, the Tower Shops. A major addition was completed in June 2001 for $1 billion that included finishing the second hotel tower.
  In the early 2000s, the company attempted to get approval for a roller coaster that would run from several hundred feet up the tower and, in the last proposal, across Las Vegas Boulevard. Part of that last proposal included an entry monument on the ride over Las Vegas Boulevard welcoming people to the City of Las Vegas. The Las Vegas City Council did not approve the project due to objections from the neighbors over possible noise from the enclosed cars on the proposed ride. Five people have committed suicide by jumping from the tower's observation area, between 2000 and 2007.
  In January 2010, American Casino & Entertainment Properties announced a new thrill ride for the top of the tower: SkyJump, a controlled-descent, bungee jumping–like ride that would allow riders to plummet 855 feet (261 m) attached to a high-speed descent wire. It opened on April 20, 2010.
  Radio stations KOAS 105.7 (FM) and KVGS 107.9 (FM) have on-channel FM boosters broadcasting from an antenna at the top of the tower's structure. Licensed as KOAS-FM1 and KVGS-FM1, they are the only radio stations with transmitters at the tower. However, the signals being transmitted from this structure are relatively low-power and only cover the immediate Las Vegas area on a "fill in" or "booster" basis. Both of these stations have their main transmitter sites located elsewhere, and those transmitter sites are what give these stations more widespread regional coverage.
  Beginning in 2010, the Stratosphere renovated several areas of the property. As part of a $20 million renovation plan, improvements were made to many hotel rooms, the casino, and the main entrance area. Improvements and upgrades have also been made in the Top of the World Restaurant and Level 107 lounge.
caption: KOAS-FM1 and KVGS-FM1 transmitting antenna atop the Stratosphere, 2010.
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