Latest plan for coaster could hurt other neighborhood

Diana Sahagun

Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2001 | 10:55 a.m.

The Stratosphere's latest proposal for a thrill ride at the hotel, although favoring nearby residents who oppose the ride, could negatively affect another group of neighbors.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, a Democrat who represents the area, on Friday attended a meeting with residents and Stratosphere representatives and said she intends to fight any proposal that would appease one neighborhood at the expense of another.

The latest proposal for the ride, which would drop passengers 700 feet from the Stratosphere's tower and travel along Las Vegas Boulevard toward Sahara Avenue, would threaten a neighborhood struggling against crime and violence, she said.

"With the vulnerability of that neighborhood, I really don't think the proposal is acceptable," she said. "'We're not going to be trade-baiting for neighborhoods."

Though the reconfiguration would lessen the impact on residents east of Las Vegas Boulevard, the ride would run alongside Meadows Village, a low-income area west of the Stratosphere that for years has been riddled with violence.

Meadows Village, which in past decades was dubbed Naked City, has made tremendous strides, Giunchigliani said. But the area continues to struggle.

Residents of the Southridge area bounded by Las Vegas Boulevard, Maryland Parkway, Oakey Boulevard and Sahara Avenue say they don't want to protect their neighborhoods at the expense of others. The Southridge neighbors have been fighting the Stratosphere since September, when the hotel proposed that an enclosed roller coaster race down the tower, cross the Strip and climb a 415-foot structure on Paradise Road.

Facing opposition from neighbors, the hotel removed the proposal from the City Council agenda in November.

Giunchigliani said she has gone door to door in Meadows Village and has listened to neighbors' concerns about how the thrill ride would affect the area. Although she has been hampered by a language barrier -- Giunchigliani does not speak Spanish -- she has gathered signatures from residents who are against the proposal.

Consultant Terry Murphy, who met with Southridge neighbors on Friday, said the hotel was no longer considering a second option, which involved realigning the ride north along Las Vegas Boulevard toward Main Street. The configuration, she said, was not sufficiently visible to attract tourists.

Murphy said that the ride's engineers would determine whether the southbound configuration was feasible and, if so, she would present new renderings to the Southridge neighbors by late January or early February. If Meadows Village residents would be affected, Murphy said, she would meet with them as well.

If the realignment is not feasible, the Stratosphere will bring the original concept back to the council for consideration, Murphy said.

If the council denies the application, one option would be for the Stratosphere to take the city to court, Murphy said.

Southridge resident John Delikanakis said he was not surprised by the mention of a lawsuit. In recent months the Stratosphere has threatened to pull its support for a monorail and resurrect a gorilla ride that would take tourists up the side of the tower.

"That's been their tactic all along," he said. "Our attitude is that if that's what you really want to do, go ahead. We're willing to put up the fight. We have a number of lawyers that are more than willing to do what they have to do to protect the neighborhood."