City ready for rowdy revelers

Monday, Dec. 27, 1999 | 11:25 a.m.

If those who believe a Y2K Armageddon will occur this weekend are right, then it won't be a happy New Year for anyone.

But on the chance they are wrong -- and any local bookmaker would take that action at almost any odds -- then Las Vegas figures to be one of the best places to celebrate the dawn of the new millennium.

Come to think of it, even if doomsday soothsayers are right, Las Vegas revelers still could get the last laugh as they go out with a big bang.

Awaiting the estimated 240,000 visitors to Las Vegas -- strangely enough, that's about an average weekend for out-of-town guests -- are world-class hotels, vintage entertainers and a chance to welcome in the new millennium amid hordes of fellow happy revelers.

Oh yes, and cheap booze.

Awaiting the more rowdy revelers are a plethora of police, a slew of security -- hotel and private agency guards -- and a fleet of paddy wagons to transport drunks and other lawbreakers to an outdoor booking area at the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center at Bonanza and Pecos roads.

In addition to facing the possibility of paying a stiff fine early in the next century, such a one-way trip also would mean a long hike back to the Strip party.

But local officials say that with the amount of preparation that has gone into this year's event, they feel the troublemakers will be an insignificant part of the overall picture.

"We feel this is going to be one of the most successful New Year's ever," Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority spokeswoman Richelle Thomson said.

"We have the top entertainment. None of our acts have had to cancel like those in New York and other places. We are very confident that this night will go off without a hitch. So many people have spent so many months planning for it."

Some of those plans already have hit hitches. Originally the LVCVA estimated there would be about 280,000 visitors while other experts this past summer predicted a turnout as high as 800,000 visitors. Last week the LVCVA dropped its visitor estimate to 240,000 people.

However, if that lower estimate of out-of-towners descend on this desert oasis, that would still be better than last year's official count of 236,000 for the three-day New Year's weekend, Thomson said.

Including locals who head to the Strip to celebrate, the crowd on Las Vegas Boulevard South could swell to 400,000.

Here's a look at some of the components that make up Las Vegas' role as a popular destination point this New Year's Eve:

Resort rooms

Las Vegas hotels started in the summer charging outrageous prices for a one-night stay on New Year's Eve and requiring a minimum stay of three to four days.

In the past few weeks, as many of the town's 121,665 rooms remained unrented, those prices have come down to what can probably best be described as only high.

The projected occupancy rate for New Year's Eve is 85 percent. Last year, with fewer rooms available, the official New Year's Eve weekend occupancy was 94.1 percent, slightly better than the 92.1 percent average weekend occupancy rate that year.

Because the number of rooms have increased in the last year, the average occupancy per weekend this year is not yet available. But tourism officials now admit that this New Year's Eve weekend will not be too much different than a normal weekend.

"It looks like it will be an average weekend, but that is still strong compared to the rest of the nation, which will be at about 64 percent," Thomson said.

"This could change in the next few days as word gets out that rooms are available in Las Vegas. Also, the drive-in market (mostly California residents) tends to book on a last-minute basis."

Here's what some of the bigger local hotels were charging as of late last week:

Big shows

Las Vegas resorts are featuring a mix of aging rockers and old Vegas entertainment stereotypes to sing in the 21st century.

Barbra Streisand certainly is Las Vegas' hottest ticket for New Year's Eve -- a ticket that is tough to get. Only a few $1,500 seats were lefgt today for the MGM Grand Garden Arena show. The top-end ticket price was $2,500. The so-called cheap seats sold out right away at $500 apiece.

Elton John and Tina Turner, a pair of rockers who achieved much of their fame in the 1970s but have maintained a spot in the limelight, will perform Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center. Sponsored by Caesars Palace, the show's ticket prices range from $100 to $600.

Rod Stewart, another '70s rocker with staying power, will perform New Year's Eve at the Rio Pavilion with tickets priced from $400 to $1,000.

Vegas mainstay Wayne Newton will perform at the Stardust Theatre and Robert Goulet will play the Flamingo Hilton Sunset Ballroom.

At the Fremont Street Experience downtown, classic rock bands REO Speedwagon, Starship, The Guess Who and Creedence Clearwater Revisited will be featured.

Other resorts featuring big stars on New Year's Eve: Caesars Palace Circus Maximus: Daryl Hall & John Oates; Desert Inn Crystal Room: Don Rickles; Hard Rock Hotel the Joint: Santana; Las Vegas Hilton Theatre: Pat Benatar; Mandalay Bay Events Center: Bette Midler; Mandalay Bay House of Blues: Stevie Nicks; MGM Grand Hollywood Theatre: Rodney Dangerfield; the Orleans Showroom: the Smothers Brothers.

Street revelers

The Y2K computer scare apparently played a role in the significant drop in the estimate of potential visitors to Las Vegas.

A lot of people who work for companies that ordinarily would have given them New Year's Eve and New Year's Day off have gone so far as to offer bonuses for workers to come in those days so there will be adequate staff to handle any emergencies caused by a glitch in computers that may not recognize the switch to the year 2000.

In addition, experts say, the fear of Y2K problems, including concerns over the possibility of events like like haywire computers causing planes to fall from the sky at the stroke of midnight, have caused significant numbers of would-be travelers to stay close to home.

However, the lure of being in a happening place like Las Vegas on such a special night is too strong for many to pass up. And the majority of visitors are expected -- despite the heavy consumption of alcohol -- to be on their best behavior.

However, as with any large, liquored-up crowd, hotels are preparing to guard against property destruction, as has occurred in past years.

Last year 98 revelers were arrested for a variety of offenses, including tearing down traffic signals and street signs on Las Vegas Boulevard and destroying landscaping, especially at Caesars Palace where some climbed atop the outdoor statues.

Three people were stabbed, revelers hurled cans and bottles -- devices that are outlawed on the Strip after 6 p.m. on Dec. 31 -- and a car was overturned.

To combat such actions, places like the Venetian and Caesars Palace will build fences along the front of their properties. Also, a number of Strip hotels, in an effort to keep the crowds inside within occupancy limits set by county officials, will allow only those with proof they are guests of the resorts to enter the properties during the peak of the reveling.

Which brings up what is sure to become the hottest concern as bladders expand to hold what seems like gallons of beer and champagne -- where to find a bathroom.

"We will have 420 portapotties on the Strip compared to 250 last year," Lon Empey, environmental health supervisor for the Clark County Health District, said. "Having more bathrooms will reduce the chances of transmitting communicable diseases."

The portable toilets will be placed strategically along the Strip to meet the needs of crowds where the greatest numbers of people are expected to gather.

"The farthest they (portapotties) may be apart is three blocks, and the closest will be within about 200 feet of each other," Empey said, noting that just three portable toilets were seriously damaged last year.

To reduce the number of potential teens who would find access to liquor among the throng of revelers, Clark County passed an ordinance outlawing unaccompanied minors from the Strip after 6 p.m. Friday. The city of Las Vegas passed a similar ordinance prohibiting unaccompanied minors from the downtown area.

Police presence

Last year, Metro Police deployed 700 uniformed officers on the street New Year's Eve, about 500 of them on the Strip. This year, Metro will deploy 1,200 uniformed officers, with 900-plus around the Strip starting at 6 p.m. Friday.

Another 260 officers will handle the normal calls, providing protection for the nonresort corridors, Metro spokesman Officer Steve Meriwether said.

The Nevada Highway Patrol, which earlier this year ceded jurisdiction of Las Vegas Boulevard to Metro, reported 36 arrests near the Strip last New Year's Eve, including 23 on drunken-driving charges. This year, the NHP will help handle accident and traffic related calls in the city.

Metro will close the Strip from Sahara Avenue to Russell Road at some point during the night, Meriwether said, noting that will happen when large numbers of people start filling Strip streets.

The only east-west artery between those points to remain open will be the Desert Inn Super Arterial, which goes under the Strip. All other area north-south roads including Industrial Road to the west and Paradise Road to the east will stay open.

"The public will dictate when we open the street up again -- not the police," Meriwether said, noting the Strip will be closed and opened in segments as the crowds develop and later disperse.

Thirty Henderson Police officers and 15 North Las Vegas Police officers will be on loan to Metro New Year's Eve to help keep the peace.

Metro also will use eight officers mounted on horses for crowd control. The Monte Carlo hotel-casino will have a private horse patrol with 10 mounted security officers in crowd control gear.

About 20 miles southeast of Las Vegas, the Hoover Dam police department will be on heightened alert against potential terrorist acts there.

Medical needs

American Medical Response will beef up its ambulance count from 20 for a regular weekend night to about 50 on Friday, with 20 of them on the Strip, the company said.

There also will be five triage tents in the back of Strip hotels where medical officials will examine people who are injured during New Year's Eve activities and determine who to send to area hospitals and who to patch up and send back to the fray.

Fire officials also will have paramedics or emergency medical technicians aboard each unit that is dispatched, as the department braces for a busy night.

Last New Year's Eve from 10 p.m. to midnight the county fire department had 200 emergency calls -- a normal number for a 24-hour period, said Clark County Fire Department spokesman Bob Leinbach. Last New Year's Day, county firefighters responded to 600 calls from midnight to 3 a.m.

Area hospitals will be doubling their staffs. Spokesmen for the University Medical Center and Sunrise Hospital say that if necessary they can call in on-call employees and triple their staffs.

In addition to the large number of expected trauma cases, area hospitals and ambulance personnel are bracing for a busy birthing night as women vie for the distinction of delivering the first babies of the 21st century. UMC officials say they are expecting a 50 to 75 percent increase in the number of births on New Year's.

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