In this week’s Green Felt Journal, I take a look at the origin of the Fremont Street Experience:
Fremont Street and the downtown casinos might be on the verge of a renaissance. Several casinos have reinvented themselves with renovations and expansions that try to blend nostalgia, modern comforts and value. But this isn’t the first time downtown has reinvented itself. In the 1950s, it tried emulating the Strip by replacing its rough-hewn gambling halls with hotel-casinos. More recently, in 1995, the Fremont Street Experience transformed downtown; in many ways, the casino district is only now growing into that change
I got the idea for this column while interviewing Mark Brandenburg, who was the junior partner at the Downtown roundtable I describe. You can listen to the original UNLV Gaming Podcast here.