In April 1999, plans were filed with the Las Vegas Planning Dept. for a $400 million hotel-mall called The Boat, to be built on the site of the Thunderbird Hotel, which was owned by Bob Stupak, former sole proprietor of the old Vegas World, which morphed into the Stratosphere. The plans called for a huge ship, the actual size of the Titanic, with four smokestacks, 1,200 "cabins," an 1,800-seat showroom, restaurants, a lounge, meeting space, and a large retail area (shaped like an iceberg), but no casino. Stupak wanted to sell 800 timeshare units to raise the financing.
In July 1999, the Las Vegas City Council sunk Stupak's plan, voting down the zoning change required for the project to proceed. The Boat was simply way too large to fit into the proposed Las Vegas Boulevard neighborhood. There were also rumblings at the time about the questionable taste of theming a Las Vegas resort after a high-profile maritime tragedy. And that was the end of the Titanic-themed Boat.
Ironically, a few months later, a multimedia exhibit of some of the 5,000 artifacts salvaged from the real Titanic went on display at the Rio. The exhibit closed a year later, in October 2000. A similar artifact exhibit is currently on display at the Tropicana; tickets are $24.50 (adult) and hours are 10 am-10 pm daily.
