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Nov. 03, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Developer proposes downtown club

Venue of Vegas would host private events, concerts and dances

By ALAN CHOATE
REVIEW-JOURNAL

A pedestrian on Friday passes an abandoned building at Fremont and Eighth streets where the new Venue of Vegas club is planned.
Photo by Jeff Scheid.



Click image for enlargement.

Las Vegas' new entertainment district is set to get another resident.

The proposed Venue of Vegas would house a comedy club and event/banquet space at the corner of Fremont and Eighth streets, near the Western Casino.

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    • If the plan gains final approval, the club would be the latest of several new businesses in what's called the Fremont East District, a three-block area that runs from Las Vegas Boulevard to Eighth, next to the Fremont Street Experience.

    It will be a different kind of entertainment destination, said co-owner Marty Olson, who runs a similar business in Scottsdale, Ariz.

    The core of the business would be providing venues for events such as corporate meetings and parties, proms and bar mitzvahs. Olson focuses on the "subsets" of larger events, he said. For example, when a large convention is in town, individual companies will rent space for private gatherings.

    "There's nothing sexy about what I do," he said. "We don't want to be on the Strip. We don't want Paris Hilton. That's not our model."

    The 2,500-person capacity facility will also be arranged to host concerts, late-night dancing and local comedians.

    Las Vegas planning commissioners gave the proposal a thumbs-up last week, and the City Council is expected to consider it this month.

    Plans call for a two-story building with Mediterranean-style exterior.

    The developers asked to have only eight parking spots on site (six for employees and two handicapped slots) because of the parking garages on Las Vegas Boulevard, on-street parking in the area and available public transportation.

    After final approval, the existing building on the site -- most recently a carpet store -- will be demolished.

    Construction is expected to start in January and finish by October 2008.

    The Venue of Vegas would join nightspots like the Beauty Bar, the Griffin and the Downtown cocktail room in reclaiming a part of downtown long considered too dirty and dangerous to frequent.

    In August, Las Vegas showcased the completion of $5.5 million in improvements to the area, including wider sidewalks, landscaping and new neon signs. Businesses and police report that foot traffic is up and crime is down.

    Olson and his partner, Victor Perrillo, saw what the city was trying to do to revitalize downtown but were concerned about how long it might take.

    "We were worried that it would be 10 years before it came around," he said. "But every time we go there, they're moving ahead."

    Contact reporter Alan Choate at achoate@reviewjournal.com or (702) 229-6435.

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    DodgerChuck's Mommy wrote on November 03, 2007 10:38 PM: Chuck! Come home! The street lights are on and it's time for your typing lesson!


    cj wrote on November 03, 2007 08:03 PM: dodgerchuck:

    Could you find it altogether possible to form a complete sentence? Maybe throw in a capital letter and a space once in a while. After carefully deciphering your post I think you are saying you are against it.

    Las Vegas downtown is not beyond repair and is getting better every year. Look at downtown areas like Detroit, Atlanta, or Houston, you wouldn't to be anywhere near those places after the sun goes down. Check out Fremont just south of LV Blvd., you wouldn't recognize it if you haven't been there in a while.


    dodgerchuck wrote on November 03, 2007 05:08 PM: ok,let me get this rite.they're going 2 have 8 parking spaces because what?a parking garage on lv blvd.gee and only 8 blocks away.i'm sure that won't b an inconvience 4 anybody.maybe they could do a new reality show,how about we call it"run the gauntlet".i remember walking from the el cortez 2 the fremont@night once,and i emphasize once 'cause i never commited that stupidity again.i was never so in fear for my life and safety.


    kenodave wrote on November 03, 2007 03:21 PM: Next to the Western? I would never go near that area, unless I had to. I used to work at the Western and cringed everytime I got near the place.


    Snooty Suburban Fool wrote on November 03, 2007 11:50 AM: Oh, there is no way I would ever go downtown! I'm happy going to Applebees everyday and staying in my shiny suburban neighborhood, living in fear behind my gates! Everyone leave downtown to people who live with a sense of adventure and creativity, not to boring, tract-home living, naysaying whiners like me! Who would want to live in a state-of-the-art loft, walk to work and the grocery store, and enjoy the diversity of city life? GRODY. Besides, if I walked everywhere, how could I couch my low self esteem in an overpriced truck?


    J wrote on November 03, 2007 11:45 AM: God, you are a time-wasting argument baiter. Just like the "real" one.


    GOD wrote on November 03, 2007 11:24 AM: They keep trying to put more perfume on the pig called downtown.

    It will always be a pig, ghetto, and pathetic place for as long as we live... and if you spend enough time down there, you won't live too long.


    J wrote on November 03, 2007 09:20 AM: Sorry, but you obviously have no clue as to what you are talking about. Downtown is completely changing in the same way the stingaree district of downtown San Diego was utterly transformed over 20 years. You are spreading incorrect info with zero basis in reality. I drop my platinum AmEx every weekend to drink downtown, as does George Maloof. Wake up and stop living in the past.


    BH wrote on November 03, 2007 08:32 AM: This area of Las Vegas is and has been a slum for at least 20 years. Bringing in a few new properties is not going to clean it up. The whole area needs to be bulldozed for starters.