Fire in the sky

Adrienne Packer

Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2000 | 10:55 a.m.

Forget Sin City. Call it spin city.

After being blasted last year for failing to celebrate the new millennium while cities worldwide launched extravagant fireworks into the sky, the Entertainment Capital of the World is playing catch-up.

And it hopes to bring back the half-million tourists who left disappointed last year by using a tactic Las Vegas knows well -- spin.

After all, as Las Vegas Events president Kirk Hendrix sees it, this is the true, official, formal beginning of a new millennium.

"Everyone else jumped the gun last year," Hendrix said Monday. "This is the real McCoy."

Hendrix's company held a "try-out" Monday for Zambelli Internationale Fireworks, which is interested in putting on an extravaganza that could stretch the length of the Las Vegas Strip.

Zambelli fired more than 60 fireworks within a 400-square-foot area in the Cashman Field parking lot Monday afternoon to determine which displays would be safe atop hotel-casino rooftops. If debris stayed within the area, it would not likely fly off the roofs and put visitors in danger.

While officials with Las Vegas Events, which orchestrates large events for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, is still working on its New Year's Eve plans, county officials said fireworks might be launched from as many as 17 megaresorts that line the Strip.

Las Vegas Events reportedly has a budget of about $500,000 to put on the show.

Hendrix said no permits have been issued for a show, but the company is meeting with different casino executives to discuss using their roofs or parking lots. He expects plans to be finalized by the end of the week and he expects them to be impressive.

"Las Vegas was the missing front tooth in all the celebrations last year," Hendrix said. "It just seemed empty."

Were visitors upset? Just ask Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, the point man for Sin City who received a barrage of e-mails and hundreds of phone calls. The message?

"How dare Las Vegas not have the greatest fireworks show in the world," Goodman said. "The rest of the world did a test run last year so we could get it just right. It will be awesome."