Casino files new plan for slower thrill ride

Diana Sahagun

Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2002 | 11:15 a.m.

The Stratosphere filed new plans with Las Vegas officials late Monday for a controversial thrill ride that has been opposed by residents near the hotel.

The new plans call for a slower, shorter attraction that would send riders across Las Vegas Boulevard at 93 mph, compared with the previous 120 mph.

But this morning, neighbors who have battled the proposal for the past six months decried the news that the hotel had filed plans without first consulting them.

Ben Contine, who heads the West Circle Neighborhood Association, said Stratosphere representatives had promised that they would hold a meeting with residents before any new plans were filed. The news is a bad omen, he said.

"I'm just shocked they would even file these plans without ever talking to us," Contine said.

Neither Mayor Oscar Goodman nor Councilman Gary Reese had seen the new proposal this morning or had been contacted by the Stratosphere. Both say their stance has not changed, that they will support the neighborhood.

"My position is very clear, that the integrity of the neighborhood has to be preserved," Goodman said, adding that he was under the impression that the Stratosphere had met with the residents.

"The only way this (proposal) would ever have any vitality is if the residents were in support of it."

Michael Gilmartin, public relations manager for the Stratosphere, said the company had no further comment beyond a prepared statement announcing new plans had been filed.

In the statement, Richard Brown, chief operating officer for the Stratosphere, said: "After meeting with the neighbors, the Stratosphere performed analysis and engineering design work to alleviate some of the concerns.

"After considerable effort and expense, it was determined that structural considerations and fire safety issues ruled out relocating the proposed amusement attraction. We reviewed many other viable options before reverting to the original concept."

Several area neighborhoods have been fighting the Stratosphere since August, when the hotel proposed that an enclosed roller coaster race down the tower, cross Las Vegas Boulevard and climb a 415-foot structure on Paradise Road.

The hotel has been pushing the plan as a way to draw more tourists but had run into opposition from neighbors, who said it would hurt their quality of life.

The Stratosphere withdrew its proposal in September, promising to bring it back in some form.

Contine said consultant Terry Murphy -- the hotel's liaison with the residents -- had tried to schedule a meeting with the neighbors Monday night. But she called late Sunday, Contine said, giving less then 24 hours' notice. He said it wouldn't be enough time to gather the residents. They settled for a March 15 meeting, he said.

The soonest the new site plan could be reviewed by the Planning Commission is April 11, putting it in the hands of the City Council in May.

John Delikanakis, who heads the Beverly Green Association of residents near Paradise Road, said he thought it was strange that Murphy wanted the meeting held so quickly.

"This kind of tactic is the same type of bullying tactic the Stratosphere has always used against our neighborhoods," he said. "It comes as no surprise. It also comes as no surprise that they broke their word."

According to the plans filed with the city, the Stratosphere is sticking with its original concept, but in a shorter, slower version.

Riders would still be dropped from the tower, but instead of a 740-foot vertical plunge, the ride will drop 510 feet, a reduction of 32 percent.

The ride will then cross Las Vegas Boulevard on its way to a steel tower fronting Paradise Road, but the tower's height has been reduced from 416 feet to 325 feet.

The design's new dimensions will reduce the speed of the attraction from 120 mph to 93 mph.

The company had been weighing two coaster routes that would not cross the boulevard. One would send riders down the tower and parallel to Las Vegas Boulevard toward the intersection with Main Street. The other would run alongside the boulevard toward Sahara Avenue.

Delikanakis said the neighborhood has been long concerned about the ride's impact because the steel structure fronting Paradise is so close to homes. A reduction of the tower to 325 feet will still hurt the neighborhood's quality of life, he said.

"The roller coaster is so close to a neighborhood, it's a knife that's sticking into the heart of our neighborhood," he said.