Columnist Susan Snyder: City has a hole lot of hope

Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2000 | 9:19 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays in Accent. Reach her at snyder@lasvegassun.com or 259-4082.

You know, there's something to say for optimism.

Unfaltering, unyielding, relentless optimism.

The kind of optimism embraced last week by those backing Neonopolis. On Thursday they hosted -- for the third time -- an open house celebrating the movies-shopping-cafe-tourist-trapping complex they hope to build on a vacant lot at Fremont Street and Las Vegas Boulevard downtown.

Oh, OK. It's not vacant. There is Neopolitan's $32 million underground parking garage. That's all done.

Last week's soiree did not focus on The Big Hole, however. It commemorated the re-relocation of Neonenuffathis' headquarters, which started out in the Fremont Street parking garage then moved to a room at the Fremont Hotel.

It now has uptown digs in a Third Street storefront a few paces from the Fremont Street Experience. Can't miss it. It's right there between two pawn shops just a couple of doors down from the beef-jerky joint.

Inside are architect's drawings and an elaborate scale model of what Neonflopolis will look like. Now the model, built by RTKL Nevada Corp., is pretty amazing.

Not only has it been moved around like a couple of old folks in a Winnebago, it's a neat piece of work. A close look reveals the handiwork of someone with a pretty twisted sense of humor.

Among the teeny people strolling through Las Vegas' most expensive doll house is a group of Hare Krishnas, a National Park Service Ranger, a group of Catholic nuns being chased by three penguins, Elvis in a tree, a marching band and a Swiss Alps guy in knickers blowing one of those long Alpine horns.

According to those who staff the headquarters during the day, the model has received rave reviews from those who stroll in to see it (or who politely look at it before asking the location of the nearest bathroom).

People want to know what it is -- where is it now? And the staff tells them right now it's basically on the table, there. But it will be built.

Will too. Will too. The target opening date, they told us Thursday night, is February 2002.

OK, so there are no actual anchor stores or restaurants signed onto the thing yet. But three is the charm. And this third reception was an effort to "re-introduce" the $99-million project to developers, staffers said.

People strolling to Fremont Street slowed as they passed the hoo-ha, which featured ongoing performances by San Francisco dancers wearing neon costumes and 4-foot stilts.

"That's the juice from the mother ship coming into my wand," one of the towering, 12-foot dancers said as the pair of wands in her hand glowed red.

A pair of tourists paused to take it all in.

"It's spooky," the man said in a thick, British accent.

"It's really spooky," his female companion replied.

Yeah, $99 million -- $32 million of which we've already invested in The Big Hole -- is kind of spooky, considering Neonplatypus doesn't have a single tenant.

You have to admire the optimism, though.

After all, plenty of people likely scoffed at visionaries who said they were building a city in the desert.