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Architectural signage kicks up a Las Vegas redevelopment project.
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Fluoresco Lighting & Signs (Tucson, AZ) helped turn on the Fremont East entertainment district in Las Vegas and ensured what happens on this historic street stays illuminated in visitors’ memories forever.
Launched in January and completed in August, the $5.5 million streetscape revitalizes three blocks of Fremont Street, whose name honors the late explorer and presidential candidate John C. Fremont (he camped at Las Vegas Springs in 1844). The two-block entertainment district comprises eastbound Las Vegas Blvd. to Eighth St. and a portion of Ogden and Carson avenues, which are one block north and south of Fremont, respectively.
The district, a public-private partnership between the city of Las Vegas, Fremont East property owners and the Nevada Dept. of Transportation, extends immediately east of the five-block Fremont Street Experience. Other improvements include pedestrian-friendly streets with wider sidewalks, more lightpoles and upgraded landscaping.
Spanning gateways on the district’s east and west ends beckon visitors into the neighborhood. Subsequently, neon streetscapes – a martini glass, a vintage “Viva Vegas” sign, and a showgirl with a rotating ruby slipper – dominate the scene as district focal points. Selbert Perkins Design’s (SPD), Playa del Rey, CA-based office developed the environmental graphics that Fluoresco fabricated.
“The city is capitalizing on popular nostalgia by reviving the glamour of vintage Las Vegas,” Scott D. Adams, director for the city’s Office of Business Development and operations officer for its Redevelopment Agency, said. “City dwellers particularly enjoy Las Vegas’ retro style made famous during the Rat Pack era.
“The streetscapes were designed to promote an attractive, walkable experience for both locals and out-of-town patrons,” Adams said. The pedestrian-friendly environment promotes walking to and patronizing not just casinos, but nightclubs, restaurants, entertainment venues and shops.”
Fluoresco’s work proves central to this experience. “The lighting will make people feel safer and add to the entertainment element of the district,” Adams said.
The design perspective
According to John Lutz, who served as SPD’s Fremont East project manager, an initial site survey demonstrated the area’s blight. He said, “This program is part of an economic and infrastructure invest¬ment that will yield a more tourist-friendly, vital neighborhood.”
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