I was reading this article in the Las Vegas Sun-click here-and got to thinking about the whole revitalization of Downtown Las Vegas.
Yes, Downtown is being revitalized and that is a good thing. But should we alter the face of Downtown Las Vegas so that it looks and feels like South Beach, Miami? Instead of building faux Art Deco homages to South Beach, should we not be trying to revitalize some of the Post War and very Western architecture that exists on Fremont Street and in the neighborhood. Do we need to look like South Beach to succeed. Why can't we celebrate the history and the architecture of Fremont Steet without destroying the original buildings to put up faux Art Deco ones?
Mary Margaret Stratton of the Atomic Age Alliance brought up a good point last Friday about the motor court motels on East Fremont Street. They are one of the largest collections of 1940s and 1950s Roadside Attractions still standing.
Word comes from Tamares, the people who bought the Plaza, the Las Vegas Club and the Ambassador East Motel at Seventh and Fremont, that they plan to tear this wonderful, weeping mortar (squish brick) two story motel complex down and put up a 500 unit boutique hotel.
Which begs the question from us, should Downtown Las Vegas being trying to compete with the Strip crowd or should Downtown Las Vegas be pursuing a different clientele. Will they be successful pulling people from the Strip to stay downtown? Will remaking Fremont Street into the Strip or South Beach pull that 21-35 year old demographic that the Strip does? Is that who Downtown should be marketing to?
Let us know what you think! We are curious how people feel about this revitalization of Fremont Street and is it going in the right direction.