The perfect place for a stiff drink

By Abigail Goldman (contact)

Thursday, Aug. 30, 2007 | 10 p.m.

A scotch, a slot machine, a decomposing corpse.

Why not have all at once? Or at least that's the logic behind a Las Vegas business venture that would bring together a mausoleum, a tavern and slot machines all under one roof.

Depending on whom you ask, the combination is either the latest in grieving or a macabre spin on one-stop shopping.

But wait, there's more. George Garcia, a representative of the developer, reportedly told the Spring Valley Town Advisory Board two weeks ago that the mausoleum tavern complex will provide “holographic recording” services -- videos filmed before a person dies, then viewed by family members who visit the mausoleum thereafter.

Embalmed bodies and cremated remains would be kept on site.

Board member George Kuck wasn't impressed. “Can you envision yourself sitting in a bar knowing there are decomposing bodies around you?” Kuck said. “Visiting your dearly departed and having a drink?”

According to Clark County Zoning Commission documents, the proposed building would be 45,000 square feet and two stories: mausoleum below, tavern with no more than 15 slot machines on top. There will also be retail space for flowers and gifts, as well as private viewing areas.

A rendering of the project showed an imposing white rotunda surrounded by palm trees, described as a “stylized version of the Coliseum in Rome.”

Advisory Board Vice Chairman Dee Gatliff is disgusted by the idea. “I thought it was kind of making a mockery of grief,” she said.

Multiple attempts to contact Garcia were unsuccessful Thursday.

Advisory Board members voted 3-1 in favor of the project providing that any plans to include a tavern be scratched. The Clark County Commission will have the final say on the matter.

The plan was scheduled to come before the Zoning Commission for approval Aug. 22, although minutes from that meeting indicate the item was rescheduled at the request of the developer, who is gathering input from residents who live near the proposed site at Buffalo Drive and Arby Avenue.

The location is in County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury's district. Although not very familiar with the details, said he found the proposal somewhat unusual.

Kuck calls “unusual” an understatement. “It goes beyond strange into bizarre, and we don't need another bizarre item in Vegas,” he said.

Abigail Goldman can be reached at 259-8806 or at abigail.goldman@lasvegassun.com.