Venetian safety tests delayed

About 90 percent of the Venetian's 3,026 suites remained unoccupied today because life- and fire-safety equipment in the hotel tower hasn't passed inspection.

County building and fire department inspectors postponed planned tests of so-called "life-safety" systems Thursday night after it became apparent they weren't working.

The systems include sensors triggered by heat or smoke and the sprinkler and smoke-extraction equipment that is supposed to respond in the case of fire.

"There continued to be irregularities between the operational performance and the requirements specified in the life-safety package," said a statement released this morning by Ron Lynn, assistant director of the Clark County Building Department.

Lynn said inspectors from the fire and building departments were at the Venetian for five hours Thursday night "in anticipation of the fire-command control panel working properly."

It didn't, prompting a determination that "to attempt to conduct testing would be counter productive," Lynn said. "We will be continuing to facilitate appropriate testing protocols as equipment comes on line."

Only 320 of the Venetian's 3,036 suites are open, and a resort spokesman said today they are all occupied by guests.

The spokesman also said three of the $1.5 billion hotel-casino's restaurants are open today, with additional dining facilities scheduled to begin operations as early as Saturday.

Venetian executives hope the resort's separate areas can pass safety inspections quickly, allowing the property to start generating additional revenue.

The casino has been operating since early Tuesday, after the county issued temporary certificates of occupancy to 320 lower-floor suites. State law requires hotel-casinos to have at least 200 rooms open.

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