Las Vegas’ big ‘party’ banner irritates county leaders
The big banner in the shadow of the Stratosphere seems harmless enough.
At 100 feet wide and nearly 30 feet tall, the city of Las Vegas’ latest attempt to promote downtown tourism is sized to draw eyeballs as it spans Las Vegas Boulevard at Sahara Avenue, easily seen by the estimated 82,000 Rock in Rio visitors over the weekend.
It’s also purple enough to attract the ire of Clark County, where at least one commissioner fears the $35,000, city-built sign may obscure red traffic lights and create a hazardous distraction for drivers leaving county territory on Las Vegas Boulevard.
City officials say the three-week-old banner — which is emblazoned with yellow, human-height text inviting northbound tourists to “Keep the party going!” — isn’t coming down anytime soon. In fact, they plan to turn its frame into a permanent gateway feature much like Reno’s famous “Biggest Little City” arch.
Until then, few would call the banner the sexiest or most attention-grabbing sign ever seen near the Strip; though at the moment, it may be the most talked about.
“If you’re the first vehicle in the line, I could see where it could be difficult to pick the street light out there if you’re approaching it,” County Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak said of the sign on Monday. “The last thing we need is another distraction for drivers.”
Sisolak and other commissioners say the banner — which plugs the city’s upcoming Helldorado Days rodeo on the side facing north —meets some of the criteria that recently kept them from backing legislation that would have cleared a path for commercial advertising on the Strip’s pedestrian bridges.
The county’s ban on such signs was reaffirmed in February following testimony from Las Vegas police and the county’s Public Works director, who said traffic signals could get “lost in the advertising.”
But Las Vegas Community Development Director Jorge Cervantes said those concerns were taken into account before the banner’s construction. He said independent structural engineers consulted on the project and city traffic engineers checked the sign’s potential impact on drivers.
He said they found nothing to worry about, adding the sign’s colors would have to be “louder” to qualify as a driving distraction.
Perhaps the world’s most famous such distraction lies only four miles south of the new banner, where Clark County’s glittering, diamond-shaped “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign greets millions of tourists a year.
That sign cost around $4,000 to build in 1959 — a little bit less than what Las Vegas spent on its banner, after accounting for inflation.
Mayor Carolyn Goodman — who was abruptly dis-invited from a key gifting ceremony as part of a recent, widely publicized flap with the county over her unannounced appearances at the welcome sign and other Strip landmarks — figures her city’s new downtown banner is a good investment.
Officials recognized Goodman as the driving force behind the project, which was inspired by an arch inviting visitors to San Diego’s much-lauded Gaslamp District, in the “Historic heart of San Diego.”
The banner, she added, was never intended as a poke in the county’s eye.
“We just want our visitors to have a wonderful time,” Goodman said. “These young folks really want to interact closely in taverns and restaurants. It’s a different type of entertainment than what you get (on the Strip).”
Nevada sees more than 3,500 distraction-related accidents every year, according to the Nevada Department of Transportation.
An NDOT spokesman said his agency “would not welcome” another roadside distraction on a street already packed with giant LED signs advertising risque shows and elaborate water fountain shows. He wouldn’t say if he thinks the city’s new banner qualifies as such a distraction.
At a nearby bus stop at the corner of Sahara and Las Vegas Boulevard, the sign drew shrugs of indifference from locals already accustomed to flashy signage.
In time, the sign will blend in with the others, said Louis Perez, a Las Vegas painter who moved from Phoenix a year ago.
But he commended the effort to remind passersby that Las Vegas is, indeed, a place to party.
“It’s still something to see,” Perez said. “It’s Vegas.”
Contact James DeHaven at jdehaven@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3839. Find him on Twitter: @JamesDeHaven. Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or 702-405-9781. Find him on Twitter: @BenBotkin1.
