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Strip goes dark for Earth Hour
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Signs and message boards up and down the Strip — the planet’s brightest spot from space — were scheduled to dim or go dark to commemorate Earth Hour, a worldwide campaign intended to draw attention to climate change.
Lights shining on the hotels went dark, too, sending the Strip into an eerie darkness. Tourists looked up while sipping their beers and yard-long margaritas. Many whipped out cameras and cell phones to get pictures of the rare event.
John Hildebrandt, a 37-year-old mortgage broker from Las Vegas, came down to the Strip with several friends to see the event and support its message.
“I think it’s great,” he said. “They should do it every night for an hour.”
“We’re also taking note of what’s not off,” said 48-year-old Chris Miller, gesturing toward the Monte Carlo.
That hotel’s sign flicked off a few minutes later.
Las Vegas served as a flagship city for the worldwide event, and all of the Strip’s major resort operators planned to participate. More than a dozen off-Strip properties, including the Palms and hotels belonging to Boyd Gaming Corp., said they’d turn down the lights as well. Even the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign anchoring the Strip’s southern end was set to black out, as was the Fremont Street Experience canopy.
“It’s an opportunity for us to encourage other companies and individuals to do as our company has, and focus on sustainability and conservation,” said MGM Mirage spokesman Gordon Absher in a recent Review-Journal interview. “Having the skyline of one of the world’s most-recognizable cities go dark is one of the most dramatic statements the World Wildlife Fund could make.”
Ping Hsu, a 31-year-old manager at the P.F. Chang’s at Planet Hollywood, walked outside the restaurant to get a glimpse of the Strip skyline, the only lights from which came from construction lighting at CityCenter and various hotel rooms.
“I was thinking, ‘Are they really going to do it?’ And they did,” she said. “I’ve never seen it like this.”
Resort corridor hotels will dim their lights to remember various celebrities, including Frank Sinatra. The Strip went dark the night after his fatal heart attack on May 14, 1998.
One early participant in Earth Hour backed out of the event late.
Station Casinos had been in on initial planning sessions for the event and said it would turn down its lights, but Earth Hour ended up conflicting with the company’s Win a Million in March promotion, a series of major, multi-property prize giveaways scheduled to happen on the hour throughout Saturday night. Company officials decided they couldn’t carry out the prize event and Earth Hour at the same time.
The city of Reno was scheduled to darken its "biggest little city in the world" arch.
Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4512. Contact reporter Lawrence Mower at lmower@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0440.
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Oscar wrote on March 29, 2009 02:00 AM:
A sign of the future for Las Vegas.
Stevey is the greatest wrote on March 29, 2009 01:58 AM: The Wynn sign was on. I was suprised because Steve is blind. Let's turn them off again for an hour to bring awareness to the blind. Greed Rules wrote on March 29, 2009 01:54 AM: Turning lights off for an hour to bring notice to global warning. Then turnig them back on. If you really believe this contributes to global warming then why don't you leave a percentage of them off all the time? I guesss it makes people feel good like running for breast cancer. Global Warming is a Farce wrote on March 28, 2009 11:45 PM: Too bad so people are so gullible. Turning your lights off is doing nothing. You had to use batteries in your flashlights to compensate. Which is worse? NiCad batteries or the lights? I'm already using low energy lights (CFLs and LEDs) . . . now they say to turn everything off? What a joke! There is no global warming! ed wrote on March 28, 2009 11:31 PM: This would have been a great thing if it wasn't tied to the "climate change" scam. bill wrote on March 28, 2009 11:06 PM: I had my lights on and all my tv's on. I am tired of this crap Greg J. wrote on March 28, 2009 10:57 PM: A wonderful cause to say the least. Not one negative aspect to it, and people find it amazing. You'd be suprised how peaceful it is to turn all your lights off in your home, light some candles, and relax. Thanks to everyone else who took some time out of their important lives to think of everyone else they share this little planet with. Let's hope we can make a concerted effort to better ourselves and our world. nichole wrote on March 28, 2009 10:50 PM: The strip was a sight to see when it was all dark, however the Wynn was kind of tacky leaving thier signs on. kmike wrote on March 28, 2009 10:45 PM: A Prelude To Whats Coming..Get Ready Las Vegas...All those Lights are going dark soon enough.. American Greed!!!!! |
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