Fremont Street Experience unveils $32 million renovation of downtown Vegas’ 25-year-old canopy

Monday, December 30, 2019 12:00 PM
  • Howard Stutz, CDC Gaming

Patrick Hughes found the easiest way to describe the technology used in the $32 million renovation of the Fremont Street Experience canopy – the central feature of downtown Las Vegas’ open-air promenade for the past quarter-century – was to define it in the simplest terms.

“The display is seven times brighter, with the resolution quadrupled from what it once was,” said the entertainment district’s CEO. “The brightness allows us to have the shows run during the day.”

That was a much simpler and more succinct explanation than trying to accurately quantify 16.4 million pixels, 49.3 million energy-efficient LEDs, 5,000 Nits, and a 600,000-watt concert-quality sound system. The renovation of the nearly 1,400-foot Viva Vision canopy took nearly a year.

The new technology also allows the canopy to offer live television broadcasts, such as concerts or sporting events. Hughes suggested the canopy might be used in April to broadcast the NFL Draft, which is expected to take place at the Caesars Forum Conference Center behind the Linq on the Strip.

“I think that would be a great way to premier that feature of the canopy,” Hughes said.

Visa Vision – and its inaugural show, MIXology – will be unveiled as part of Las Vegas’ New Year’s Eve celebration. Afterward, the canopy will offer a library of eight shows.

Considered the world’s largest video screen, Fremont Street’s free attraction is responsible for driving 24 million visitors annually to the space, which covers five city blocks and offers direct access to seven downtown hotel-casinos – eight when the under-construction Circa Casino Resort is unveiled in 12 months. The space opened in December 1995.

“Sixty-seven percent of our visitors come downtown because of the canopy,” said Hughes, who has been the Fremont Street Experience CEO since 2016. “It needed a floor-to-ceiling renovation.”

Hughes, his team and the Experience’s board of directors lobbied the City of Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and downtown casino operators for funding. It wasn’t a tough sell.

The revitalized Viva Vision canopy illuminates the Fremont Street Experience in Downtown Las Vegas (Black Raven Films for Fremont Street Experience)

The city committed nearly $11 million to the project, the LVCVA contributed $9.5 million, and private casino operators added $12 million.

“Local leaders understood the need for the renovation,” Hughes said.

H. Fletch Brunelle, who oversees marketing for the LVCVA, said the canopy’s renovation “is a great addition to the investment that our resort partners are making to help enhance the overall experience for our visitors.”

Downtown Las Vegas has recently been in a revival due to renewed development. In addition to Circa, which is being built by Derek Stevens, owner of the Golden Gate and D Las Vegas, Boyd Gaming has explored adding a second hotel tower to its Fremont Hotel-Casino, the Plaza has been renovating its hotel rooms and casino, and the Downtown Grand is building a 495-room addition that opens in 2020.

Through November, downtown Las Vegas gaming revenues are up 5.2%.

Hughes said the hotel development will give downtown “a shot in the arm.” He said half of all Las Vegas visitors make downtown part of their trip, “but we only have 5% of all the hotel rooms.”

Boyd Gaming CEO Keith Smith, whose company also owns Main Street Station and the California, agreed, saying in October that the market needs additional hotel room capacity.

He told analysts on the company’s third quarter earnings call that new hotel rooms would provide “the entire market with a substantial lift in visitation.”

As for the canopy, Smith said the upgrade “will significantly enhance and re-energize the Fremont Street Experience, giving Las Vegas tourists and residents a compelling new reason to visit downtown Las Vegas.”

Stevens, who built an outdoor events center on the site of the downtown’s shuttered courthouse, has been one of the area’s biggest boosters since acquiring the Golden Gate in 2008.

“We are excited about the upgraded Viva Vision and the incredible new experience it will deliver to the millions of guests that visit each year,” Stevens said.

Hughes said the mission of the public-private Fremont Street Experience partnership is to drive visitation to downtown Las Vegas. In 2014, the company opened SlotZilla, a zipline attraction with an 850-foot zipline and 1,750-foot zoomline, that take riders underneath the canopy starting from a 12-story slot-machine-themed platform. Revenues from ticket sales are used to promote the entire development.

“This is a one-of-kind venue, and we know that coming downtown is an important part of the trip for many visitors,” Hughes said.

Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.