As Las Vegas is poised to top the 300,000 mark for venue seating, its once-struggling monorail system proving to be an invaluable resource.
With the recent opening of the 20,000-seat T-Mobile Arena and a planned summertime opening of a 5,000-seat theater at the Monte Carlo casino, Las Vegas is on the cusp of setting a venue seating record this year.
Las Vegas already has 226,884 various venue seats, and the addition of the 25,000 seats at T-Mobile arena and the Monte Carlo sends that total to a record 251,884 by year’s end, and if no other venue closings occur.
A strong push also is underway to build a proposed $1.4 billion, 65,000 seat domed stadium on vacant land owned by UNLV on the north side of Tropicana Boulevard and across the McCarran International Airport.
Billionaires Sheldon Adelson and Steve Wynn say they support the domed stadium proposal, and Adelson offered to have Las Vegas Sands and Majestic Realty provide $150 million toward the stadium’s estimated cost.
NFL Oakland Raiders team owner Mark Davis says he can come up with another $500 million toward the stadium construction and definitely would move the Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas—pending approval by two-thirds of the NFL’s 32 team franchise owners.
Tentative proposals suggest the remaining funds could come from room tax revenues currently collected by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, but that requires approval of the Nevada Legislature.
Yet, should the proposed 65,000-seat stadium become a reality, that would give Las Vegas somewhere in the neighborhood of 317,000 venue seats across the Las Vegas Valley, making it possibly the largest density of venue seating anywhere in the world.
Such a large amount of venue seating requires public transportation, and that’s where the recently financially troubled Las Vegas Monorail Company comes into play.
The nonprofit started operating in 2004, with its primary mission being to tie together the city’s largest convention centers. The monorail line runs some 3.9 miles, from the MGM Grand at its southernmost point north to Sahara Avenue, with seven stops in between, including the Las Vegas Convention Center.
The monorail line ran into financial trouble during the Great Recession and nearly folded. But it survived a restructuring with most of its debt wiped out and only $13 million in debts remaining on its books.
With ridership numbers up and the company looking much stronger, the Clark County Commission on May 3rd gave it permission to tap into its $6 million rainy day fund, which was created to help pay any debts that might have been left had the monorail folded.
Now, that money will go toward an estimated $100 million line extension to the Mandalay Bay, which recently expanded its convention center to more than 2 million square feet.
Extending the monorail line from the MGM Grand to the Mandalay Bay ties together the largest conventions and events venues on the Las Vegas Strip.
That leave four small monorail lines operating on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip, and makes it possible for riders to board the monorail line at Sahara Avenue, ride it down to the Mandalay Bay and then board another tram connecting the Mandalay Bay, Luxor and Excalibur casinos.
Another monorail line connect the Monte Carlo to the Bellagio, while yet another runs from The Mirage to Treasure Island casinos.
Although there are gaps, Las Vegas has a basic footprint for a monorail route circling the entire Las Vegas Strip, including several properties being developed on the north end.
The ad-hoc Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee has identified light rail as an essential need in Las Vegas to help convey its growing ranks of visitors to and from their hotel locations and entertainment and events venues around the Las Vegas Valley.
With the proposed Las Vegas Monorail extension, coupled with an existing monorail footprint around the Las Vegas Strip, the day soon might come when tourists and locals alike can board the monorail and take it virtually anywhere on the Las Vegas Strip.
