Residents want to sink Titanic-themed hotel

The sunlight pouring through the leaves of a large elm bathes lilies, hollyhocks and apricot trees in a warm glow as sprinklers spread rainbow droplets of water onto Fifth Place lawns.

Doves coo and palm fronds sway in the breeze in the yards of 1930s, '40s and '50s homes now well kept by third-generation Las Vegans and the occasional new family moving into the second-oldest neighborhood downtown.

Across the street from Eudora Leverton's chalet-style 1932 home, a block concrete wall of the Thunderbird Hotel adds little distraction to the neighborhood nestled in amazing quiet just one block east of Las Vegas Boulevard by way of Park Paseo.

Yet if casino developer Bob Stupak has his way at Monday's City Council meeting, the Thunderbird and several adjacent businesses will be christened anew as a 280-foot-tall Titanic-themed hotel with an adjacent iceberg-shaped shopping center.

"That would create a permanent shadow in my yard," said Mary Hausch, who lives in a 1951-built home several doors down from Leverton and whose yard early each year comes alive with a thousand daffodils.

"We appreciate that Las Vegas Boulevard is commercial zoning and there are things we can live with," Hausch said. "But a Titanic?"

The city of Las Vegas planning staff is recommending that the City Council approve Stupak's request to re-zone the property from limited to general commercial.

The planning staff's recommendation is opposite that of the five-member Planning Commission, whose members are appointed by the City Council. Last month the Planning Commission voted 5-0 against Stupak's rezoning request.

The City Council makes the final decision on all zoning policy issues but always considers beforehand the recommendations from its planning staff and Planning Commission.

Staff planners say that general commercial zoning -- which allows car dealerships, hospitals, mortuaries and hotels -- is "in conformance with the existing and proposed development in the vicinity."

Neighbors along Fifth Place, however, want the project to go the way of the infamous ship, saying a to-scale replica of an ocean liner flanked by an iceberg isn't compatible.

"I am not overly thrilled about it to say the least," said Leverton, who has lived in her home for 35 years, before the Thunderbird Hotel or any of the current commercial properties on Las Vegas Boulevard were built. "I know Stupak though. If he can't come in one way, he'll come in another way."

The Planning Commission's unanimous denial of the re-zoning request came with a suggestion to Stupak.

Instead of building the boat and iceberg next to single-family homes, planning commissioners suggested he flip the proposal around.

That way, a parking garage would abut the homes on Fifth Place and the west side of Las Vegas Boulevard would get the boat and iceberg. Adjacent zoning on the west side of the road is already general commercial and R-3 -- a higher-density residential.

The Boat, as it is being called for copyright reasons, would have 1,000 rooms called cabins, 15 main floors called decks and 30,000 square feet of retail space in the adjacent Iceberg Commercial Area. The parking garage across the street would connect to the hotel via a pedestrian overpass.

"I can't visualize it, but I look up at the beautiful blue sky there and I imagine the iceberg will be somewhere right up there," Hausch said, pointing to the treetops over her neighbor's house.

The planned $300 million project is designed for 700,000 square feet, and does not yet include a casino -- although it is possible Stupak could lobby the state to allow gaming in that area.

Current state law prohibits gaming from Fremont Street to St. Louis Avenue, thus requiring state legislation to enable such zoning. Stupak said he has no immediate plans to include a casino in the planned resort.

But will The Boat float without a gaming license?

Stupak proposes raising money for the project by selling timeshares in the project -- at a rate of $28,000 for one week's stay each year. A complete sellout of 40,000 buyers would raise more than $1.2 billion, Stupak said.

Gaming and leisure analyst Andrew Zarnett, of the Wall Street firm Ladenburg Thalmann & Co., said he believes it would be difficult to finance any project north of the Stratosphere -- whose financial failure was blamed, in part, on its location.

Stupak said that's all the more reason his Titanic resort is needed in that part of town.

"We need to get rid of the adult bookstores, topless bars and other problem areas that are in the gateway to Las Vegas," Stupak told the Planning Commission. "My own Thunderbird is a haven for such abuses, including prostitution.

"The whole area has to be cleaned up, and we need a gateway from the Strip to downtown or the city of Las Vegas will be leaving everything to Clark County," he added.

Plans call for The Thunderbird, the Talk of the Town strip club and several other buildings to be demolished to make room for the ship.

Representatives of the John S. Park Neighborhood Association met with Stupak last month to try to tell him about their concerns. Association member Jim Mills said Stupak didn't answer specific questions or speak at all about the neighbors' concerns.

"He just said, 'It's up to the City Council, I have nothing to say,' " Mills recalls.

Although just a mile from Fremont Street, the neighborhood is considered one of the original "suburbs" in Las Vegas. Executives of former downtown hotels moved into the area with their families and began building homes as different as their individual tastes.

Leverton's chalet with evergreen tree shutters and a shingled roof shares the block with a 5,000-square-foot rancher and what Hausch calls her "Leave It To Beaver" 1950s-era home. Gaming executive Jack Binion lives a block away and Stupak himself owns a home in the neighborhood.

"It would just be a visual blight," said Mills, who lives in a South Sixth Street home built in 1930. "I have no question it would destroy this neighborhood."

Mills and Hausch both say they have grown used to the 1,149-foot-tall Stratosphere tower Stupak also conceived. Although they can occasionally hear tourists screaming from the thrill rides atop the tower, residents say the Stratosphere's sheer height keeps the hulking tower in perspective.

At the April 8 Planning Commission meeting Stupak said: "This may make 30 families unhappy, but 1 million people will enjoy it."

Mills said he understands the council isn't being asked to approve the project on Monday, however, he said he believes any zoning approval will inevitably lead to the project's approval.

"Once it's re-zoned, anything can go," Mills said.

The neighbors are circulating petitions and have already protested before the Planning Commission. They are planning to attend Monday's City Council meeting and continue the fight even if the zoning is approved, Mills said.

City Councilman Gary Reese, whose Ward 3 encompasses Mills' neighborhood, said he has concerns with the project but wants to keep an open mind about it.

"I'll spend the weekend driving around there and looking at it more closely," said Reese, who recently received a $5,000 contribution from The Thunderbird Hotel for his re-election bid. "It is an old neighborhood and a 280-foot high structure is going to cast a long shadow."

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