The Riviera hotel-casino closed on May 4, 2015 at noon. The historic Las Vegas landmark was sold to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority for approximately $191 million dollars. The original plan was to tear down the hotel in a couple years when the convention center was ready to expand but recently the decision was made to demolish the hotel/casino immediately. It was not said but one has to wonder if the liability of keeping the hotel safe must have had something to do with that decision. A vacant building of that size would have to be guarded 24/7 to keep intruders out. Also vacant buildings can become a haven for rodents. The future plan is for the Las Vegas Convention Center to build a pedestrian walkway from the current convention center to the Riviera property that will have a $2.3 billion Las Vegas Global Business District. The sale of the Riviera was a shock to most even though the business had been way down from it’s glory years. If they would have held on for a couple more years the North end could have brought them plenty of new business because of the Resorts World that is already underway just across the street from the Riviera.