Editorial: Neonopolis will be worth all the risk

Monday, March 11, 2002 | 8:46 a.m.

Authors, TV pundits and motivational speakers by the hundreds flood the markets with the notion that taking risks in business, in government and in personal lives is a good thing. Yet when a risk appears headed south, criticism can be merciless. The city of Las Vegas, certainly, learned that over the past four years as it guided the Neonopolis urban entertainment complex on Fremont Street from concept to construction.

This project that combines retail stores, restaurants and entertainment, such as bowling alleys and movie theaters, now has what appears, at long last, to be a firm timetable for opening. If it opens in May, as is now scheduled, the city's risk -- a $40 million investment -- will be on a strong course for an ultimate payoff in increased downtown tourism and property tax collections.

The idea came about in 1997 under former Mayor Jan Jones, whose administration saw it as a natural complement to the Fremont Street Experience. Since then the path to opening has been fraught with criticism and even some strong-arm tactics by Mayor Oscar Goodman when the project seemed moribund. In December 1999, for example, he threatened to take over the project if developers didn't soon find an anchor tenant. It was first scheduled to open in November 2000, then the fall of 2001 and then February of this year.

Downtown is the birthplace of modern Las Vegas and the center from which its growth and vitality sprung. If Neonopolis helps turn downtown once more into a sparkling center for residents and tourists alike, the financial risks the city took to help build it will have been worthwhile.