Fremont Street Experience New Year’s Eve plans raise COVID safety concerns

Nevada officials said Tuesday that Fremont Street Experience’s plans for New Year’s Eve do not comply with state restrictions and expressed concerns that it could lead to a surge in COVID-19 cases.

The six-block entertainment district will allow people from 6 p.m. onward Thursday, as long as they pay a $25 security fee. The event is preparing to have as many as 14,000 attendees, Nevada state COVID response director Caleb Cage said during a COVID-19 Mitigation and Management Task Force Meeting virtual meeting Tuesday.

“This is not an event that would be allowed under any of the directives that have been in place for the last 10 months, let alone the current restrictions under the pause,” he said. “This will have a significant impact on our ability to maintain and control the spread of the virus in the state, especially given that fact that we’re at hospital capacity right now.”

‘People are coming regardless’

Spokespeople for the Fremont Street Experience declined to comment on how many attendees are expected or address concerns on the event’s ability to further spread the COVID-19 coronavirus.

In early November, officials from the entertainment district had submitted plans to host a New Year’s Eve event with live music and roughly 10,000 attendees, but it was not approved by the Clark County Recovery Organization because the virus was spreading too quickly.

Nevertheless, Fremont Street Experience announced that it would allow people inside the walkway on New Years Eve. The count down to the new year would be different from the 2020 celebration, which charged $45 for admissions and included live music. There will be no live events this year, but attendees will be able to view the Viva Vision Canopy and fireworks from the Plaza, a downtown hotel-casino.

Plaza spokeswoman Amy Maier said plans for the annual fireworks show are still on. There are no public viewing areas for the display this year, but they will be visible for miles and shown on TV and online.

Wesley Harper, director of the Nevada League of Cities, said Tuesday that the Fremont Street Experience has shifted to thinking of the anticipated New Year’s Eve gathering as “a protest,” or an inevitable event that they would prepare for by limiting access and cutting live entertainment, such as bands and street performers.

“They do not believe that they have the constitutional standing to close a public street for the idea that people may gather,” Harper said. “They’re preparing for people to come, because they’ve gotten the information that people are coming regardless.”

Harper added that the $25 access fee is meant to offset the cost of extra Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers and ensure COVID-19 guidelines are enforced at the “protest-esque situation.” Roughly 200 officers are expected to be downtown on Thursday.

Spokespeople for the Fremont Street Experience declined to comment how the event was organized.

According to a statement from the City of Las Vegas, no event is planned on Fremont Street on New Year’s Eve, since there are no special programs or performances. The city did issue a special use permit allowing the Fremont Street Experience to take measures such as stopping street performances, charging a security fee and providing additional crowd control.

“The (Fremont Street Experience) is a public mall, similar to any other mall. The public will be allowed access, like on any other night, and will continue to have access to the adjacent properties,” the statement said.

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman agreed and said it’s imperative the city provide visitors a safe, crowd-controlled option Thursday.

“It’s silly of us to put our heads in the sand and ignore that they’re coming downtown,” she said. “We’re doing everything we can do to make sure it’s a safe and healthy New Year’s Eve.”

According to the Fremont Street Experience’s website, the event will be limited to those 21 and over and will enforce a mask mandate and six feet of social distancing.

Concern among local leaders

Some in the meeting, including Cage, took issue with the idea of 14,000 people gathering downtown during a pandemic.

“I have a lot of trouble with this,” Cage said. “It seems an awful lot like the city (of Las Vegas) has worked very hard in order to skirt the spirit and the letter of the (COVID-19 safety) directives as they’re written in order to protect us.”

Gov. Steve Sisolak issued a statement Tuesday afternoon, urging Nevadans to reconsider going out on New Year’s Eve. He emphasized that the statewide “pause” is still in place, asked those who do go out in public to follow state guidelines and said business owners should be strict in following state directives.

“It’s not lost on me that Las Vegas is known for being one of the best places in the world to ring in the new year, but this year must look different,” he said. “I know people want to celebrate the end of 2020, and I don’t blame them, but if we don’t make smart choices now, the start of 2021 will look and feel a lot more like 2020 than any of us want. We must protect ourselves and each other now by avoiding high risk activities — and that includes gathering in large crowds.”

While 14,000 would be a fraction of the estimated 300,000 visitors who packed downtown Las Vegas and the resort corridor last year, current state COVID-19 restrictions limit gatherings to 50 people or 25 percent capacity, whichever is lower.

Clark County Commission chairwoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick said Monday that she wants to see the numbers of people allowed inside the district Thursday cut in half, and “no light show” to dissuade attendees.

“I’m concerned that New Year’s Eve is going to put (our hospitals) over the capacity level we’re comfortable with,” she said. “Many of us are moving forward, trying to get us out of this (pandemic). Some of these events are not helping us do that.”

Kirkpatrick also raised issue with the $25 security fee.

“I’d like a $2,021 fee for my hospital, that I’m having to staff nurses at $300 an hour to insure,” she said.

Dagny Stapleton, executive director of the Nevada Association of Counties, added that Clark County does not condone or support Fremont Street Experience’s plan.

Contact Bailey Schulz at bschulz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @bailey_schulz on Twitter.