Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Scenery unfolds, Las Vegas-style

WEEKEND EDITION

April 10 - 11, 2004

Scenic byway -- the words conjure up images of X-rated video stores, tattoo shops, broken down motels, pawn shops, even a topless nightclub.

Maybe not for everyone.

But it does for the City Council, which last week voted to ask the federal government to declare Las Vegas Boulevard from Sahara Avenue north to Washington Avenue, a national scenic byway similar to California's Big Sur Coast Highway and Lake Tahoe's East Shore Drive, which feature miles of breathtaking views.

The ultimate goal here, according to the city's scenic byway management plan, is "for tourists and residents alike to experience the heart of Las Vegas on an adventure that captures 150 years of history, glitz, commerce and roadside charm. "

First, however, the city needs the National Scenic Byways Program, which is run by the U.S. Transportation Department and the Federal Highway Administration, to approve the management plan.

The city says the north end of Las Vegas Boulevard meets three of the six federal criteria to be declared a scenic byway. It is scenic, historic and cultural.

If the federal designation is obtained, it could mean hundreds of thousands of dollars in government funding to spruce up the busy thoroughfare.

There's plenty of room for sprucing up.

The first thing you notice when you head north from Sahara is a large empty building on the east side of the Boulevard that once housed the Holy Cow brew pub. A few steps past this eyesore you'll find the Starborn Tattoo shop and a smoke shop that lays claim to being "Las Vegas' largest hemp store."

Across the street is another tattoo shop, Tattoo Heaven, next to the gaudy "World's Largest Gift Shop."

It doesn't take long, a few blocks, before you come across your first pawn shop on the Boulevard, the Super Pawn at St. Louis Avenue. The store is across the street from the Stratosphere Hotel & Tower which, as the tallest structure in the West, is the only attraction in the same class as Clark County's famed Strip, from Sahara Avenue south to Russell Road.

Farther north you'll find the most colorful section of the proposed scenic byway. This is where the city says the "roadside charm" comes into play, where there are ethnic restaurants, small motels and popular wedding chapels, a cultural phenomenon unique to Las Vegas.

This is also the site of the Meadows Village neighborhood, (primarily old apartment complexes) which was known as the "Naked City" in the 1950s and 60s when Strip showgirls sunbathed there topless. Naked City, which is on the west side of Las Vegas Boulevard, took on a new meaning in the 1990s when the neighborhood developed a reputation as a haven for drugs, prostitution and violent crime. Today, under the new name of Meadows Village, it's a safer place to live, but there isn't much scenery.

Sprinkled between the wedding chapels and small motels and restaurants in this section of Las Vegas Boulevard are other businesses not mentioned in the city's byway management plan, such as the Olympic Garden topless nightclub, the Talk of the Town adult video store, and the Slightly Sinful Adventure sex boutique.

Most of the motels in this area advertise adult movie specials on their marquees. The Del Mar, for example, has a two-hour room special for $30 that comes with "free XXX movies." That could be scenic.

Deputy City Manager Betsy Fretwell, who put together the byway management plan, says the adult businesses offer the visitor "scenery with character."

The visitor probably would say they also offer recreation, which is a federal byway criteria the city was too shy to bring up in its management plan.

For proof of the recreational possibilities, take a look at the washed-out sign above the Talk of the Town, which advertises nude strippers inside the store and "free XXX DVDs with a club membership." Down the street, Showgirl Video uses its marquee to promote "live nude girls" in its video booths. And still farther along the Boulevard is a gigantic billboard that advertises an Asian massage parlor. The cops will tell you what happens in those places.

Here's what the scenic byway management plan says about the significance of the adult businesses:

"These types of enterprises contribute to the legend of Naked City and can provide an environmental and social context for the diverse range of entertainment activities that are unique to the history and development of Las Vegas."

Translated that means city officials know the area lives up to the Sin City reputation of Las Vegas. But they'd like the National Scenic Byways Program to give them a break when determining whether that end of the Boulevard deserves the same national recognition as the wealthy south end, which is lined with spectacular megaresorts and eye-pleasing attractions. The Strip from Sahara to Russell Road received national scenic byway status a few years ago.

If the federal government buys into the city's byway plan, which might be a tougher sell in Washington than officials have let on, funding also could be available to build a visitors center on the Boulevard to, as the management plan says, spread the word about the "scenic, cultural and historic intrinsic qualities of the byway."

That's likely to bring a smile to the face of Olympic Garden owner Pete Eliades, who arguably can say he has the best sights to see on that end of the Boulevard.

Another stop on the scenic byway surely would be the room at the low-budget Econo Lodge, where Mohamed Atta stayed several weeks before carrying out the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Atta's room, a stone's throw from the Talk of the Town, probably falls under the historic criteria.

Farther north, beyond a boarded-up motel and the Sin City Hostel, which looks like it should be boarded up, and several storefronts protected by iron bars, junkyard dogs and who knows what else, the Boulevard offers other potential popular stops on the scenic byway tour.

If a gambler finds himself down on his luck at the tables, he could hock his wedding ring at one of several pawn shops or obtain extra cash at his choice of payday loan outlets. How's that for culture?

And keeping in mind that "what happens here, stays here," the visitor taking this tour who had too much fun and wound up on the other side of the law would have an opportunity to choose from any number of bail bond shops.

Finally, you come across the contemporary Lloyd George Federal Courthouse, a pleasing sight at last.

But just a few blocks away on Fremont Street, you go by Neonopolis, the $100 million publicly financed retail, food and entertainment center that is short on retail, food and entertainment. Then you get a good view of the Fremont Street Experience's parking garage, but you won't see many cars parked there.

You also won't see much one block to the north when you drive past the sterile City Hall complex, which has no windows visible from Las Vegas Boulevard. But then they say they don't do much at City Hall, anyway.

Once you go beyond the freeway, you'll see a few more low-budget hotels and an array of small businesses. But suddenly, as you approach Washington Avenue, you come across some genuinely scenic sights -- the Lied Discovery Children's Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Reed Whipple Cultural Center and the Cashman Center (the home of the Las Vegas 51s).

You even get to see the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort with the remnants of the first Mormon settlement in the valley in 1855.

And you wonder how those pioneers would feel about the scenery we have created here.

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