Trekkie mecca headed for new galaxy

By Joe Schoenmann

Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2008 | 2 a.m.

What does an Earth-bound Klingon do for work when her day job at Star Trek: The Experience ends? Shouldn’t she commit the ritualized suicide required of Klingons who are no longer able to fight?

As harried workaday county employees stared, Maj. Khlen turned to face the questioner.

“Human, I believe just looking at me, you’ll know that I can still fight!” Khlen barked. “I have no reason to fall on my own blade.”

But moments later, a more conciliatory Khlen — joined by three other characters from distant galaxies — stood among the political leaders of the Clark County Commission for a farewell recognition of The Experience’s 11-year run at the Las Vegas Hilton.

Rog’l, a Ferengi — big-eared people predisposed to bribery and profiteering — gave each of the commissioners a bottle of water from his swampy home planet. Unlike Las Vegas, Ferenginar has more than enough water, Rog’l explained.

Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani, introduced by Rory Reid as his own favorite Klingon, presented the proclamation noting that “this is Vegas. We have showgirls; this is better.

“Youth can see it, and it doesn’t bother anybody.”

But by this time next month, the Hilton’s Star Trek attraction will be no more. It closes Sept. 1, making way for something that neither the aliens in the commission chambers nor Chad Boutte, operations manager for Star Trek: The Experience, could foretell.

“All I know is at this point, we’re doing very, very well,” Boutte said. “But the Hilton obviously has something else in mind.”

Ira Sternberg, Hilton spokesman, said “several possibilities” could replace the Star Trek attraction, but nothing has been finalized.

There is a remote chance The Experience could be moved to a space not so far, far away.

“There have been talks with other companies and venues. One idea would be finding another venue in Vegas,” said Leslie Ryan, a spokeswoman for CBS Consumer Products, which owns the Star Trek name, costumes and set pieces of The Experience.

But it might also wind up in another city, she said.

The hard part about beaming out the attraction, she noted, is that Star Trek: The Experience was built specifically to fit its space at the Hilton. “So, they can’t just easily move it to someplace else.”

Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., based in Sandusky, Ohio, holds the lease on the attraction. The publicly traded amusement park operator’s other properties include Knott’s Berry Farm near Los Angeles, King’s Island near Cincinnati, and a Great America theme park in Santa Clara, Calif. Cedar Fair officials could not be reached for comment.

A spokeswoman for the attraction said that since its star-date July 1, 1997, opening, The Experience has drawn 3 million customers.

Since the closure was announced in May, Boutte has received more than 5,000 e-mails from upset Trekkies who all wanted to know, as he paraphrased it: “Why, why would you close such a wonderful thing?”

It’s going out with a big bang, though, thanks to the 40,000 Trekkies expected this week for what he said is the world’s largest Star Trek convention. Organizers said they had to add a fifth day to accommodate the expected crowd and the guest appearances.

At the closing of the convention Sunday night, Maj. Khlen and her co-workers will reveal their true identities to their admiring fans.

Until then, Khlen, who has worked at The Experience for nine years, will remain in character.

Asked what she plans to do upon the attraction’s closing, she replied with a firmness born of battle: “I’ll return to my home, Q’onos, for rest and relaxation.”