Downtown Las Vegas | |
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.jpg) Downtown Las Vegas | |
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| Coordinates:36°10′18″N115°08′38″W / 36.17169°N 115.14382°W /36.17169; -115.14382 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Nevada |
| County | Clark |
Downtown Las Vegas (commonly abbreviated asDTLV) is thecentral business district and historic center ofLas Vegas, Nevada, United States. It is the original townsite, and theDowntown Gaming Area was the primary gambling district of Las Vegas prior tothe Strip. As the urban core of theLas Vegas Valley, it features a variety of hotel and businesshighrises, cultural centers, historical buildings and government institutions, as well as residential and retail developments. Downtown is located in the center of the Las Vegas Valley and just north of theLas Vegas Strip, centered onFremont Street, theFremont Street Experience andFremont East. The city defines the area as bounded byI-15 on the west, Washington Avenue on the north, Maryland Parkway on the east and Sahara Avenue on the south.[1]
Perhaps the earliest visitors to the Las Vegas area were nomadicPaleo-Indians, who traveled to the area 10,000 years ago, leaving behindpetroglyphs.Anasazi andPaiute tribes came here at least 2,000 years ago.
The area was named Las Vegas, which is Spanish forthe meadows, in the 1800s because it featured abundant wild grasses, as well as desert spring waters for westward travelers.
The year 1844 marked the arrival ofJohn C. Frémont, whose writings helped lure pioneers to the area. Downtown Las Vegas' Fremont Street is named after him.
Eleven years later, members ofthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chose Las Vegas as the site to build a fort halfway betweenSalt Lake City andLos Angeles, where they would travel to gather supplies. The fort was abandoned several years afterward. The remainder of this fort can still be seen at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Washington Avenue at theOld Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park.
Las Vegas was founded as a city in 1905, when 110 acres of land adjacent to theUnion Pacific Railroad tracks were auctioned in what would become the downtown area. The first hotel in the area, the Hotel Nevada, was built in 1906; it is still operating as theGolden Gate Hotel and Casino.[2][3] In 1911, Las Vegas was incorporated as a city.
The year 1931 was a pivotal one for Las Vegas. At that time, Nevada legalized casino gambling and reduced residency requirements for divorce to six weeks. This year also witnessed the beginning of construction on nearbyHoover Dam. The influx of construction workers and their families helped Las Vegas avoid economic calamity during theGreat Depression. It was completed in 1935.
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Key hotel developments serving tourists in Las Vegas included theEl Cortez (1941) on Fremont andLast Frontier (1942) onU.S. Route 91, further south, later to be known as Las Vegas Boulevard/Strip. FollowingWorld War II, lavishly decorated hotels, gambling casinos and big-name entertainment became synonymous with Las Vegas. The first large casino in Las Vegas was built downtown, theGolden Nugget, completed in 1946.
In 1951, the firstatomic bomb detonation at theNevada Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, occurred. City residents and visitors were able to witness themushroom clouds until 1963, when theLimited Test Ban Treaty required that nuclear tests be moved underground.
Meanwhile, Downtown and the Strip began competing for tourists, with the famousVegas Vic waving cowboy sign downtown (1951) being answered by the opening of the tallest building in Las Vegas, the nine-storeyRiviera on the Strip; the Riviera was trumped by the twelve-storeyFremont Hotel and Casino (1956) downtown.[3] By the late 1950s, most new casino-resorts were opening on the Strip, including theDunes (1955),Tropicana (1957),Stardust (1958),Tallyho (1962), andCaesars Palace (1966),[3] in comparison, competing contemporary developments downtown includedThe Mint (1957),Lady Luck (1964), andFour Queens (1966).[4]
1955 also saw the opening of theMoulin Rouge Hotel just west of downtown, the first racially integrated casino-hotel in Las Vegas. Full desegregation of other Las Vegas properties followed in 1960, and during the 1960s, corporations and business powerhouses such asHoward Hughes were building and buying hotel-casino properties. Gambling was referred to as "gaming", which transitioned into legitimate business.
In 1989, entrepreneurSteve Wynn changed the face of the Las Vegas gaming industry by opening upThe Mirage, theLas Vegas Strip's first mega-casino resort.[5] This strengthened the pull of visitors away from the downtown area.
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In 1995, theFremont Street Experience in Las Vegas's downtown area was opened. This canopied, five-block area features 24 million LED lights and 550,000 watts of sound from dusk until midnight during shows held on the top of each hour.
Due to years of revitalization efforts, 2012 was dubbed "The Year of Downtown". Projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars made their debut at this time. They includedThe Smith Center for the Performing Arts andDiscovery Children's Museum, theMob Museum, theNeon Museum, and a newLas Vegas City Hall complex.[6][7]
In 2018, plans for a new downtown expo center were announced, replacing and expanding on space previously provided by the Cashman Center.[8]
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Fremont Street is home to most of downtown's hotels and casinos. These are the original casinos of Las Vegas, which existed before the more famousLas Vegas Strip. TheFremont Street Experience is a canopied street of the downtown area where casinos have been connected to the street and to each other in a unique visual manner. An audio-visual system consisting of more than 2 million lights and a sound system allows for nightly shows. A variety of events also occur at the Experience, including several live concerts. Various entertainment and dining options are also located in the area.[9][10]
Property and business owners have been working to redevelop Fremont Street just east of the Fremont Street Experience. In 2002, the city ofLas Vegas Redevelopment Agency joined with Fremont East property and business owners to create abusiness improvement district, as well as pay for a $5.5 million streetscape improvement. This area is called the Fremont East Entertainment District.[11] It features an eclectic mix of bars, clubs and restaurants. Centered on Las Vegas Boulevard on Fremont Street, this three-block renovation includes pedestrian-friendly street redesign, landscaping and retro-looking neon signage.[12][13][14]
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Officially called 18b, The Las Vegas Arts District – named after the 18 blocks the district originally encompassed[15] – this area is home to the city's arts scene with its mix of art galleries, studios and stores. Many arts district stores offer antiques, vintage clothing, high fashion, and mid-20th century furniture/furnishings and other collectible items.[16] Centered on Main Street and Charleston Boulevard, the area hosts the popular First Friday festival every month featuring art, music and other performances.[17][18]
Symphony Park is a mixed-use urban district being built on the land to the west of Fremont and Main streets. It will eventually feature a mix of retail, medical, hotel and residential developments. The city of Las Vegas is undertaking the development on 61 acres (25 ha) of land purchased from theUnion Pacific Railroad in 1995. This is a major project for theLas Vegas Redevelopment Agency and the city.[19] Projects that have been completed and are currently operating at Symphony Park are the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health,[20] The Smith Center for the Performing Arts[21] and the Discovery Children's Museum.[22][23]
Business and government leaders have begun working on a plan to expand downtown's Las Vegas Medical District (LVMD) from its current 200 acres to at least 680 acres. While currently offering the largest concentration of health-care services in the Las Vegas valley, an expanded district would allow for additional health-care services and opportunities. Areas for planned expansion include the Charleston Boulevard corridor to Valley View Boulevard, along Martin L. King Boulevard and in Symphony Park. The centerpiece of this expanded district will be the 260,000-square-footUNLV School of Medicine, which will include an educational building and library. The school was granted preliminary accreditation in late 2016 and can begin accepting students for its 2017 charter class.[citation needed]
Centered on Bonneville Avenue and Casino Center Boulevard, most of this area is filled with office and government buildings. With several court buildings located here, there are many judicial-related businesses such as law firms in the immediate area. The financial district is home to theLas Vegas City Hall building, the Lloyd D. George U.S. Courthouse and several bank buildings such asBank of America. The Clark County Marriage Bureau is also located here at the Regional Justice Center.[10]
Downtown is a hub for arts and culture in the metro area. The main venue for performing arts is theArt Deco-inspiredSmith Center for the Performing Arts. In addition to The Smith Center and 18b, The Las Vegas Arts District, there are a number of educational facilities in the Cultural Corridor, located just north of the immediate downtown area. They include the Las Vegas Natural History Museum, the Neon Museum and Boneyard and the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park.[24] Also in this area are a number of neon signs from former Las Vegas casinos and landmarks, which have been restored and installed on several streets around downtown, as well as throughout the Fremont Street Experience. A famous neon icon of downtown Las Vegas is theVegas Vic sign, also located at the Fremont Street Experience. Downtown also hosts the annual Life Is Beautiful Festival, a multi-day event that features music, art installations, and food experiences throughout the Fremont East area.
Several buildings of architectural significance exist downtown, although being founded in 1905, Las Vegas lacks the number of historical buildings of older cities. Exceptions include the Historic Fifth Street School, built in 1936 in the Spanish-mission style and listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Also listed is theLas Vegas Post Office and Courthouse, which currently serves as home to The Mob Museum[30] and is one of the few historical neoclassical buildings in the city. Built in 1930, the Las Vegas Academy of International Studies and Performing Arts is the city's best example of Art Deco architecture. The Morelli House, built in 1959, is a notable mid-century modern design. The building that formerly housed the Las Vegas City Hall, and now is home to the corporate headquarters for the online retailer Zappos.com, is a notable example of 1970s modern architecture.[31][32][33]
As Las Vegas boomed, more recent buildings tended to take inspiration from a variety of styles. The Clark County Government Center has a red sandstone exterior invoking a desert motif. TheSmith Center for the Performing Arts, opened in 2012, is a more modern example of Art Deco design. ArchitectFrank Gehry designed the building for the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health building in deconstructionist style.[34] It was completed in 2010.[35]
Downtown serves as a main center for government services in theLas Vegas Valley. Government offices for the city of Las Vegas and Clark County are located here, as well as theLas Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and several courts.
Some former government buildings have been turned into attractions, such as the oldLas Vegas Post Office and Courthouse becoming theMob Museum.
Two major freeways—Interstate 15 and Interstate 11/U.S. Route 95—cross in downtown Las Vegas.RTC Transit is a public transportation system providing bus service throughout Las Vegas, including the downtown area.
Abus rapid transit link in Las Vegas called the Strip & Downtown Express (previously ACE Gold Line) with limited stops and frequent service was launched in March 2010. It connects downtown Las Vegas, the Strip and the Las Vegas Convention Center. It stops at the Bonneville Transit Center. Completed in 2012, the transit terminal serves as a central transfer point for downtown and features 16 vehicle bays for buses and 100 bike racks.[36]
The Downtown Loop is a free shuttle servicing many attractions in downtown Las Vegas. The Loop runs continuously during operating hours and arrives at each stop every 20 minutes. The hours of operation are Monday through Thursday: 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Friday through Saturday: 3 p.m. to 12 a.m.; Sunday: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The AAA Free Self-Driving Shuttle is a pilot program that provides rides in the Fremont East Entertainment District Nov 2017 – Nov 2018. The pilot program is a partnership withKeolis, thecity of Las Vegas, and theRegional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada. The shuttle runs Tuesday – Sunday 4:30pm – 8:30pm, with the main station stop at the Downtown Container Park. Shuttle service is suspended during the month of August.
The economy of downtown Las Vegas has been primarily based on gambling and entertainment, as is the case in the greaterLas Vegas Valley. However, the smaller downtown casinos earn revenues that pale in comparison to the mega resorts on the Las Vegas Strip further south. As of 2014, there have been major renovations of several downtown resorts such asThe Plaza, Golden Gate Hotel,Golden Nugget, El Cortez Hotel & Casino, the D and the Downtown Grand.[37][38]
Downtown Las Vegas also houses some corporate offices, as well as the World Market Center Las Vegas, a frequent host of trade shows and conventions. Recently, the opening of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health and the arrival of the new Zappos headquarters downtown has started to attract new medical and technology-oriented businesses to the area.
The downtown area in recent decades has played second fiddle to the larger and more famousLas Vegas Strip, which is located a few miles to the south. The city has been working on revitalization efforts to entice more visitors and residents to the downtown area.
World Market Center Las Vegas consists of three giant buildings, with a total of 5.1 million square feet, in a facility designed byJon Jerde. It is home to semiannual trade shows for the furniture and furnishing industries. This is one of several entities that are helping to diversity downtown Las Vegas's economy and job base.[39]
The square footage of World Market Center Las Vegas is greater than both theWillis Tower inChicago and theEmpire State Building inNew York City.
The city is also working to attract events to the downtown area. Recently held events includeHelldorado[40] and theLife is Beautiful festival.[41]
In 2012 several new downtown projects were completed. TheSmith Center for the Performing Arts, the newMob Museum and a new City Hall building opened. The Discovery Children's Museum opened next door to The Smith Center in 2013.[42]
The Las Vegas City Hall now operates out of a new building, which, along with the Bonneville Transit center, can serve as an anchor tenant for new development along Main Street.[43] In addition, Main and Commerce streets in downtown Las Vegas are undergoing major beautification efforts, which started in mid-2014.[44]
Online retailerZappos made major renovations to the old Las Vegas City Hall, and moved into the building in late 2013, which now houses its corporate headquarters. Zappos CEOTony Hsieh had taken a personal, as well as a professional, interest in the urban area and contributed $350 million of his personal wealth toward a multifaceted revitalization effort called the Downtown Project, with businesses likeThe Writer's Block included among its investments.[45]
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