Tourists find the Las Vegas Strip remade for its turn hosting Formula One
The Bellagio fountains on the Las Vegas Strip won't be very visible
LAS VEGAS — The famous fountains at the Bellagio won't be very visible this week amid the roar of Formula One racing on the Las Vegas Strip, and gondoliers won't be serenading tourists at the Venetian resort.
“Fountains have been shut off, canals drained, streets closed or harder to navigate,” Michael Green, a University of Nevada, Las Vegas history professor, said after six months of road work and temporary grandstand construction for some of the most monied spectators in sports. “What are they calling it? Stripmageddon? It is clearly causing a lot of uproar.”
“But this is a different kind of big event,” said Green, who remembers two Grand Prix races held 42 years ago at Caesars Palace. “We’re talking about billionaires from around the world. They’re going to bring in a ton of money. They’re not necessarily the usual tourist.”
Organizers, local officials and hotel operators believe the discomfort will be forgotten after racing ends late Saturday. They hope Las Vegas will join Monaco on the leader board of host cities for Grand Prix events around the world.
Officials say the Venetian gondola canal will be refilled. Casino operator MGM Resorts International has promised to replace Bellagio sidewalk shade trees removed to frame the fountains with thousands of grandstand seats and skybox suites. One worker died during construction.
“I know a lot of people love the fountains,” Joshua Guray, a visitor from Long Beach, California, said. “So it’s definitely a bummer, I’d say.”
For now, many familiar Strip sights are blocked by track barriers, fencing, pedestrian walkway screens, scaffolding and advertising erected around the nighttime race on streets usually
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