LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — The implosion of what’s left of Tropicana Las Vegas is scheduled for next month.

When it comes to capturing the history of this city, there’s one man who really knows his stuff.

Former TV reporter Steve Crupi was present at 15 hotel collapses and shared some secrets about leveling the Las Vegas Strip’s history.

From the Dunes in 1993 to the Riviera in 2016, Crupi has seen the ever-changing landscape of the world-famous boulevard.

“After I started reporting on this, people around town recognized me,” Crupi said. “They may not have remembered my name, but they would point at me and say, ‘Hey, you’re the implosion guy!'”

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Crupi now wants to make sure those memories are preserved. He is collecting implosion material from three decades for a project he wants to share with the entire community.

“I’m putting them all together in one big historical account,” he said. “I’m going to donate it to UNLV, make it part of a podium presentation — an hour-long lecture where people can learn all about these things, some of which they may remember, but most of which they’ve never seen before.”

He and Kelli Luchs, archivist at the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, comb through the files of the Las Vegas News Bureau for never-before-seen images.

“It was also fun for me, because I discovered all kinds of hidden gems in the archive that I didn’t even know existed,” said Luchs.

She scanned some 800 images for Crupi’s project, each implosion a little different from the last.

Crupi said the demolition of the Stardust was not without its challenges.

“The dust cloud just chases people out onto the street and the police are trying to get them out and to safety,” he explained. “Circus Circus was completely covered in dust.”

Now it’s the Tropicana’s turn to join history. The building has been evacuated and prepared for an implosion in the early morning hours of Wednesday, October 9.

Some visitors feel it’s time, and Crupi agrees.

“People have a nostalgia for these hotels,” he said. “A lot of people say, ‘Why did we blow up the Landmark Hotel? It was such a cool spaceship-looking thing.’ It was full of asbestos. There had been a fatal fire. The building was really cursed. In my opinion, it’s good that we’re done with it. There’s bigger and better things to come. That’s what we’re doing.”

If he had to pick a favorite, Crupi said it would be the Aladdin implosion, which was quietly brought down to protect a performing arts center on the site.