Wednesday, Sept. 16, 1998 | 11:15 a.m.
The Sahara hotel-casino has put on hold plans for a 131,000-square-foot convention center, pending final plans for a monorail that could run from Cashman Field to Russell Road.
The three-story convention center had been planned for a 12-acre Sahara-owned parcel of land at the southeast corner of Sahara Avenue and Paradise Road. The Sahara received Clark County Planning Commission approval for its convention center proposal in July.
However, the resort has since agreed to participate in the planning of the monorail, said Sahara Counsel John McManus. Which means everything could change.
"In all likelyhood, the design will change and the location will change," said McManus. "It's possible the whole thing will be scrapped."
According to some preliminary designs, a monorail-related parking garage would be build on the site, McManus said.
"We don't want to make any commitments until we're exactly sure what's going on," he said.
The Sahara still wants to build a convention center, and hopes to be able to do so by working around the monorail designs, McManus said. A final decision will likely be made within the next three to six months, though "it could all happen faster," McManus said.
The Sahara plans a convention center for the same reasons many other casino resorts are building or expanding their conventions centers: "Hopefully to attract business to the property as well as a way to generate revenue," explained McManus.
By some estimates, casino resorts and the Las Vegas Convention Center are adding 1.8 million square feet of conference space through 2000.
But a Sahara convention center would be targeted more at trade shows and exhibitions -- similar to the convention market niche served by the Cashman Field Convention Center -- rather than the high-end business meeting and conference market, said McManus.
"Our understanding is there continues to be a need despite the expansions," McManus said. "There's definitely a shortage of space."
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