Downtown takes next step with Neonopolis

Erin Neff

Thursday, Jan. 14, 1999 | 11:05 a.m.

Art Jacobsen shook his head sadly as he walked past a mound of rubble where his favorite lunch counter stood just weeks ago.

The price of progress downtown has claimed dozens of businesses that for decades offered lunch, souvenirs and hotel rooms in the city's historic heart.

"I can remember when this was THE place to be," said Jacobsen, 68, a retired postal worker as he surveyed what was once the Rancho Market.

City officials and developers are hoping that Fremont Street east of Fourth Street will once again be the "in" place in town with construction of a $99 million urban entertainment center called Neonopolis.

"Today we embark on a new chapter in the rich history and colorful history of one of the city's most-famous blocks," said Bob Gorlow, president of World Entertainment Centers, at a ceremony Wednesday to mark the clearing of the old to make way for the new.

An old barber shop and postal store will be toppled today, adding to the crushed concrete, mangled pipes and dust piled high in block 34. In the weeks to come, excavation on a two-story subterranean parking structure will mark the first construction at Neonopolis.

"I used to come down to Fremont Street back in '57, '58," City Councilman Gary Reese said. "I would never have thought that I would be part of changing what was. It's exciting."

Neonopolis is an extension of the vision that brought the Fremont Street Experience light show and pedestrian walkway downtown. With 9 million tourists visiting the Experience each year, developers are banking on Neonopolis to bring the restaurants and retail for which those vacationers currently find up the Strip.

"Our intent with this project is to create a center not just for tourists, but for the residents of the city to enjoy," said Rob Snowden, executive vice president of WEC.

Half of the space in Neonopolis is already spoken for -- with Mann Theatres planning 11 movie screens in 54,000 square feet of complex.

Snowden, who is in charge of leasing the center, would not yet comment on other tenants who have confirmed their intent to come to Neonopolis.

WEC is hoping to announce the other businesses in the weeks before the International Council on Shopping Centers meets in town this May. Snowden is hoping to find tenants for the remaining 100,000 square feet of space during that conference.

Neonopolis will feature three levels of restaurants and shops around an open courtyard. The 600-space city-owned parking garage will be built underneath the pedestrian-friendly retail arcade with entrances off Fourth Street.

Reese said Neonopolis is part of the city's commitment to revitalizing downtown, which includes plans to expand City Hall.

The first phase of City Hall's expansion is construction of a $12-million parking garage with office space at the corner of Stewart Avenue and Fourth Street -- just a block from Neonopolis.

Mark Paris, chief executive officer of the Fremont Street Experience, said construction of the Federal Building and Regional Justice Center will soon bring hundreds of employees back downtown -- all of them looking for spots to eat lunch and spend time after hours.

"It creates a place where people like to gather," Paris said.

Neonopolis will include a food court, five restaurants, four larger-sized retailers and 47 stores. Across the block, the race car-themed Race Rock restaurant will open this summer in the Fremont Street Experience parking garage.

"Neonopolis is already having a ripple effect," Snowden said. "It is helping bring additional developers and exciting projects to downtown."

A souvenir shop under the Experience canopy at the corner of Fourth is under scaffolding as the owner is embarking on remodeling efforts to spruce up his business.

Reese said he hopes the excitement generated when Neonopolis opens in November of 2000 will help spur redevelopment efforts down Fremont Street toward the Showboat Hotel.

"It's all part of the circle," Reese said.

Jacobsen said the twinge of nostalgia he feels remembering businesses from the 40s and 50s is also part of that cycle.

"It's sad, but the grandkids will like this a lot better," Jacobsen said. "I guess it was time for a change."