Downtown attraction may receive upgrade

By Liz Benston (contact)

Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2002 | 11:17 a.m.

The Fremont Street Experience LLC has signed a contract with a Korean company to upgrade the elaborate lightbulb canopy in downtown Las Vegas that beckons tourists with a nightly light show.

Fremont Street Experience President Mark Paris said the company's board of directors has signed off on the contract with LGCNS, one of Korea's largest corporations.

Paris declined to comment further on the project, saying additional details are "premature" but will be forthcoming over the next several weeks. Calls to member casinos that fund the Fremont Street Experience were referred to Paris.

The Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported last week that the technology company LGCNS and Korean LED screen manufacturer DMT were awarded a $13.95 million contract by the Fremont Street Experience to build what could become the largest LED screen in the world.

The screen would replace the existing lightbulb-lit canopy, the newspaper reported.

LGCNS and DMT could not be reached for comment.

The light show has been credited with boosting the fortunes of downtown's aging casinos, which have struggled financially in the shadow of Las Vegas' opulent Strip resorts.

Some difficulties remain. In a protracted labor dispute with the Culinary Union that was eventually settled last summer, many downtown casinos protested that they could not afford the higher wages and health insurance benefits their Strip counterparts had agreed to offer union workers.

Steve Houchens, deputy city manager for the city of Las Vegas, called the potential upgrade "a positive step" for the region.

"It's refining the product," Houchens said.

The city likely won't help fund any upgrade, which has been envisioned as a private undertaking, he added.

It's not yet clear how Fremont Street Experience would fund the retrofit.

The $70 million Experience was funded by a combination of public and private dollars including $25 million from downtown hotels and $8 million from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which is primarily funded by hotel room taxes levied on hotels and motels countywide and paid for by visitors. City redevelopment funds were used to build a nearby parking garage.

A decade ago, the state Legislature allowed hotels on Fremont Street to pay an additional 2 percent hotel tax, while hotels off Fremont Street could levy an additional 1 percent tax on top of Clark County's 9 percent hotel tax. One downtown property isn't paying up.

Fremont Street Experience sued Binion's Horseshoe, a downtown landmark that hosts the World Series of Poker, in August 2001 after funding shortfalls forced the cancellation of a number of public events. Fremont Street claimed the casino had failed to pay past assessments and monthly fees since 1998 totaling at least $1.9 million.

In court documents filed this year, the casino said taking $1.9 million from its cashier's cage would force the property to close because it would not be able to meet a minimum reserve of $1.2 million required to pay off gamblers. A trial date has been set for July 2003 in Clark County District Court.

Binion's attorneys have contended that the Fremont Street dues are unfairly large and that the organization has violated antitrust law and local ordinances.