MGM Resorts International wants to implode a new 26-story hotel in downtown Las Vegas that has been plagued by construction and structural problems before it has even opened, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.

Unlike the Sands hotel, which was a Las Vegas landmark for decades before it was torn down, the Harmon Tower has never had a single guest.

County officials have demanded that the defects be fixed immediately after a report from an engineering firm that the structure could collapse in the event of a major earthquake.

MGM Resorts, which needs approval from a district court judge, wants to use explosives to bring down the hotel but Perini Building, general contractor for CityCenter, where the hotel is anchored, says it can fix the strucuture.

Perini says that demolition would destroy evidence of design errors.

The whole issue, not surprisingly, is tied up in the courts.

The tower was originaly meant to be 47 stories, but plans were scaled back in 2008 after inspectors found improperly placed steel reinforcement, the newspaper says.