Saturday, July 12, 2003 | 3:37 a.m.
WEEKEND EDITION: July 12, 2003
Las Vegas employees have at least two major challenges for the city's 100th birthday 22 months from now.
First, Mayor Oscar Goodman wants the Las Vegas townsite centennial celebration to be a party to end all parties. The project's manager, city employee Stacy Allsbrook, also wants to get the job done without having to dig too deeply into taxpayer pockets -- preferably not at all.
"The mayor's vision is that this has to be the biggest, most fantastic party the world has ever seen -- he has given us our marching orders," Allsbrook said. "Our job is to take his vision and make it a reality."
The main celebration is scheduled for May 15, 2005, the 100th anniversary of the land auction that created the original town site bounded by what is now Stewart Avenue, Garces Street, Las Vegas Boulevard and Main Street.
However, Allsbrook said, events will be scheduled throughout 2005 -- including the return of the Elks Helldorado event that was a key celebration in the city from 1934 until it ended in 1998 because of a contract dispute with a promoter.
"We are still evaluating what the cost will be and are still budget-building for it," Allsbrook said. "I'm hoping not to have to ask for taxpayer money. I'd rather fund the whole thing through corporate sponsorships, grants, private donations, fund-raisers and similar means.
"I cannot say at this time that we definitely won't go before the City Council or the Clark County Commission for some funding. But right now, I want to stay out of the taxpayers' pocket."
The city already has earned $210,000 from the issuing of more than 8,400 license plates commemorating the 100th anniversary of the city.
The city gets $25 for every $61 "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" plate sold through Dec. 31, 2005. Personalized plates carry an additional $35 fee. Renewals of all centennial plates are $30, with $20 going to the city through Dec. 31, 2005. After that, the annual renewal fees drop to $10.
Las Vegas Councilman Gary Reese, a member of the nine-member Centennial Executive Committee and the Centennial Celebration Committee, said that while he wouldn't bet on it, he believes it is possible to raise enough money without dipping into the general fund.
"We will be seeking funding through the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and corporate sponsorship from Strip and downtown casinos," Reese said. "The city of Las Vegas also can sell itself through marketing.
"We will try to make this the biggest celebration ever while not costing the people of Clark County a penny."
Reese, like other board members, said his goal is to "have people see what Las Vegas is, was and can be. We want the families of the past to join with the newcomers to celebrate where Las Vegas has been and where it is going."
Reese said as a youth from Panaca, he would come to Las Vegas each year for the Helldorado events that included three parades, a rodeo and other festivities that preserved and honored the American frontier.
Robert Keck, chairman of the Elks Helldorado Committee, said the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks Lodge 1468 has been waiting for an opportunity like the centennial to bring Helldorado back with a huge splash.
"The 100th anniversary of the city is perfect for us because Helldorado is the history of Las Vegas," Keck said. "We will put on a small-scale event next year, like a trail ride, just to get our volunteers some experience. But 2005 will be our big comeback. We're really excited about it."
In the late 1990s Elks officials, struggling to make their charitable event profitable, entered into a contract with a private promoter who got a three-year exclusive contract to the name Helldorado.
The contract guaranteed the Elks $25,000 a year for three years, with the promoter taking all of the risks and earning all profits beyond that for the rodeo, carnival and other events.
However, after dismal turnout for the 1998 event, the promoter did not put on Helldorado for the last two years of the contract and the Elks could not use the name during that period.
Although the Elks have since held two Helldorado barbecues, the big event has remained on the shelf.
Former U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., said he accepted an appointment to the Centennial Committee to play a role in preserving history and resurrecting historic events such as Helldorado.
"I've been a resident here now for 62 years," Bryan said. "I've seen a lot of history and I want a celebration like this to make people who live here aware of just how much history there is in Las Vegas.
With such a transient population, Allsbrook said, one of the big challenges facing centennial officials is reaching the many newcomers.
"We have to get people to understand what this celebration is all about," she said. "But with so many new people, a lot of them might not understand what Helldorado was and why it is important to bring it back. We need community awareness."
To that end the Centennial Celebration Committee, comprising more than two dozen local officials, business owners, educators and other community and civic leaders, have been divided into seven working groups that will address special events, education, community organizations, fund-raising, marketing, cultural and historical issues.
"What we want is for the people to come up with ideas and not leave it solely up to the city to determine what the celebration will be," she said. "We want at least 80 percent of the activities for the centennial to come from the public. And we want to incorporate the centennial into other events."
Allsbrook said the city will work with other promoters and promotions, such as Cinco de Mayo, the celebration that falls 10 days before the city's birthday, and Clark County's Red, White and Boom Fourth of July celebration.
Former Las Vegas City Manager Ashley Hall, who also serves on the Centennial Celebration Committee, says 2005 will be a big year "for Las Vegas to remember its roots" with at least one other major commemorative celebration.
"Exactly one month after the city's birthday, the LDS (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) will be hosting the celebration of the 150th birthday of the Old Fort," said Hall, who serves on the sesquicentennial celebration committee for that landmark at Washington Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard.
"With these celebrations we hope to evoke a feeling of community spirit."
One of Hall's centennial projects is to put together a birthday choir with representatives of every religion in the Las Vegas Valley -- Christians, Jews, Muslims and all other faiths willing to participate.
Hall said a history of each faith that has served the valley will be compiled into a book that may accompany a CD of the centennial choir.
Allsbrook said that while nothing is written in stone, some of the other ideas under consideration include a three-day opening ceremony May 13-15, 2005; the biggest local New Year's Eve Strip fireworks show ever on Dec. 31, 2004; a re-creation of the 1905 land auction; and a real auction of Bureau of Land Management land.
Also planned, she said, is a legacy park, featuring 100 new trees or something that will remind future generations of the centennial. The city also will honor the federal government, which has been the number-one employer of Southern Nevada citizens over the last 100 years.
Other planned events include a film festival, a Nellis Air Force Base air show featuring a complete local aviation history and a performance by the Thunderbirds Air Force precision team that long has been based at Nellis.
Other potential events include a joint venture with Sparks, which also is celebrating its 100th birthday; the opening of the Las Vegas Springs Preserve, the birthplace of the Las Vegas Valley; guided tours of city attractions; awards for businesses; a weekend reunion of some of Las Vegas' oldest families; the opening of the Neon Museum visitor center; opening of the historic downtown Post Office as a museum; a time capsule; issuing of new historical markers at points of interest throughout the city; a televised variety show; concerts, hotel promotions; and the city releasing a film documentary, book and CD commemorating the event.
"I would hope we raise enough money to also fund smaller local activities in support of the centennial," Allsbrook said. "For example, if a school wants to put on a play about the centennial, we could provide a $200 grant to fund the production.
"After all, this is all part of our heritage."
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