Brighter Fremont Street planned

Thursday, Dec. 5, 2002 | 9:42 a.m.

The Las Vegas City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to ask the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority for $7 million to help remodel the Fremont Street Experience's light and sound show.

Mark Paris, president of the Fremont Street Experience, said the $16.5 million upgrade to the $70 million canopy over the heart of downtown Las Vegas is needed to keep the attraction popular with tourists by providing the best technology available.

"Fifty-eight percent of the approximately 18 million annual Fremont Street Experience visitors come to see the world's largest graphic display system," he said. "It's estimated that more than 91 million downtown visitors have watched a sound and light show during the six years of operation."

The LVCVA board is expected to consider the request Dec. 10.

The council vote came a day after the unveiling of a refurbished 16-foot "Welcome to Downtown Las Vegas" sign donated to the city by the Experience. It cost $21,000 to restore.

Completed in 1995, the Fremont Street Experience is the city's most expensive redevelopment undertaking. Ten major downtown hotels, in an effort to revitalize the area, invested $21.4 million, and another $34 million came from room taxes, including $13 million from a special downtown room tax. The city and its redevelopment agency forked over $27.6 million and the LVCVA paid $8 million.

Now the LVCVA is being asked to kick in money it receives from room taxes for recreational purposes, specifically park projects. In 1993 the city, amid much controversy, designated the Fremont Street Experience as a local park.

The downtown casinos would pay $7.3 million for the upgrade. Another $2.2 million would come from a corporate sponsorship by a Korean company, LG, which has an agreement with the Fremont Street Experience to upgrade the graphic display by installing a modern LED system.

The new display, which would be brighter and require less maintenance, would feature nearly 9 million light bulbs compared with the current 2 million. That, Paris said, will result in television-quality images and high-resolution digital graphics.

Mayor Oscar Goodman, who sits on the LVCVA board, said the funds the city normally receives for projects will be considered "independent of this request -- we will not be penalized for getting this money. ... It's a plus- plus from my perspective."

Only a couple of companies in the world are able to do the work, the council was told, and LG has offered to share the cost. If officials find that the project has to be put out to bid, then the city's request for the LVCVA funds would be withdrawn.

Another stipulation is that local labor be used to do the installation, Goodman said.

"We must keep up with progress," Goodman said. "I don't think we have a choice."