Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Joe Downtown: Slotzilla undergoing tests, unlikely to be open by New Year’s Eve

Slotzilla at Fremont Street Experience

Tom Donoghue/DonoghuePhotography.com

Slotzilla at Fremont Street Experience on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013, in downtown Las Vegas.

Updated Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2013 | 3:56 p.m.

Slotzilla at Fremont Street Experience

Slotzilla at Fremont Street Experience on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013, in downtown Las Vegas. Launch slideshow »

Slotzilla almost has its legs.

Workers started testing the 1,750-foot-long zipline today, hoisting a man-sized and weighted dummy into the elevator, shipping it up 12 stories, then harnessing it and letting it go.

The $11.5 million structure, under construction for about a year, features three giant slot machine reels that will spin and flash "Jackpot!" before riders fly over the Fremont Street Experience.

Jeff Victor, Fremont Street Experience president, said a firm opening date has not been set.

It would be beneficial for Slotzilla to roar in time for the Experience's New Year's Eve bash. That's too many people and too many potential customers to pass up. But sources close to Fremont Street Experience said today that Slotzilla will not be open by the end of the year; with many tests ahead, it could be several weeks before it opens.

Joe Schoenmann doesn’t just cover downtown, he lives and works there. Schoenmann is Greenspun Media Group’s embedded downtown journalist, working from an office in the Emergency Arts building.

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