Arts District’s big brushes expected to win approval

By Sam Skolnik

Monday, June 16, 2008 | 2 a.m.

The Las Vegas City Council is set to vote Wednesday on whether to give final city approval to the controversy-prone proposal for the Gateway to the Arts District public art project.

The proposal, by New York artist Dennis Oppenheim, is for two giant sculpted paintbrushes, one at Main Street and Charleston Boulevard and the other at Las Vegas and Charleston boulevards.

The brushes will stand about 50 feet tall and both will have LED projectors to beam light shows into the night skies. The city estimates the project’s total cost at $438,000.

Oppenheim’s original proposal was of two archway light sculptures of paint buckets spilling, with the paint transforming into pink flamingos. That project would have cost the city $3 million, the city’s public art coordinator found — despite Oppenheim’s rosier $700,000 estimate.

The council is expected to give its approval even though the city is cash-strapped, especially since the city’s finance director recently recommended that the project go forward.

•••

A prime redevelopment spot has opened up in the Fremont East District and city officials are taking proposals for ground-level retail outlets, nightclubs and restaurants.

The 48,750-square-foot building, at 601 Fremont St., sits on the corner of Fremont and Sixth streets, near the heart of the burgeoning entertainment district.

The site is being marketed through traditional commercial real estate channels, city officials say. Businesses that have expressed past interest in the site are being contacted directly — but proposals and “letters of interest” from interested parties are being accepted by the city’s Office of Business Development.

Several swanky new bars and nightclubs have opened in the Fremont East district in the past few years and the neighborhood has been branded with brightly colored neon signs, all as part of a city push to lure businesses to the area and create the city’s first pedestrian-friendly entertainment hub.

•••

For City Hall workers, the bad news is that the air conditioner might not be cranked up the way they like it over the coming blistering summer months.

The good news: On the advice of the city manager, they can forget their suits and ties through Labor Day.

Beginning this month, the thermostats at City Hall have been raised by one or two degrees. The goal is to save taxpayers $6,000 per month.

But city managers understand that with the warmer temperatures, both inside and out, it makes sense to relax the dress code a bit and to lose those stuffy suits and ties.

In the words of City Manager Doug Selby: “Just as the city’s sustainability initiative recognizes that we should build a community that is compatible with our desert environment, it underscores (that) our summer environment is not particularly conducive to wearing coats and ties.”

The city has taken on several sustainability programs, including improving water conservation and recycling efforts and operating 90 percent of its transportation fleet on alternative fuels.

The city, as officials are not shy about pointing out, was named American City of the Year by the World Leadership Forum last December, in large part because of the pro-green efforts.