You Can’t Fight City Hall
February 3, 2010
I have always found Las Vegas City Hall to be somewhat impressive. Built in 1973 and extended in 2003, it is large, modern, and more than suitable for a city of 600,000 people.
Las Vegas City Hall
Las Vegas City Hall
Las Vegas City Hall
Depending on the latest turn in our numbers, Las Vegas is now a city that is either losing population or is experiencing miniscule growth. This being the case, one might surmise that our existing municipal infrastructure is just right. At a time when the city is hemorrhaging tax revenue without an end in sight, even if our City Hall were not ideal, one might think that we could hold on and make it work until things got a bit better.
Obviously, I’m missing something.
Municipalities like to chronically decry the fact that they do not have enough money, and they are always on the lookout for ways to rip-off the citizenry, but I maintain that nearly all budget shortfalls are a result of mismanagement by government itself. I have a fair number of Federal employees in my extended family, and exactly zero of their positions are essential to the health and welfare of the American people. They are also the most shiftless, lazy, unmotivated people I have ever met in my life. They would not be able to hold jobs at Burger King for more than 2 weeks. I have the nerve to wonder why I don’t get invited to family reunions.
In my opinion, 90% of government employment is glorified welfare for people with absolutely zero ambition. Say what you want about people on food stamps, but welfare queens are downright cheap when compared to their “government employee” counterparts who get salaries and pensions for shutting up and not rocking the boat for 30 years.
I digress.
Apparently the workaholics in our local government need more space to do whatever it is that they do, and today was a major step toward that goal.
At 10:00am today, the old Queen of Hearts hotel was prepped for demolition in order to make way for a new Las Vegas City Hall. Oscar Goodman and a few other notable folks were on hand, and I sat and listened to Oscar insist that the new City Hall was a necessary step to turn the “blighted” neighborhood around. He also mentioned something regarding economic stimulation by providing construction jobs or something to that effect. Apparently, busy-work is more palatable to taxpayers than are handouts, so this is ostensibly a legitimate use of taxpayer money.
Anyway, after the speeches were finished, the deconstruction of the Queen of Hearts began, and watching the building being penetrated was both arousing and frightening.
I realized just how fragile the building was.
The crane, backho’, or whatever the equipment was called met inconsequential resistance from the building it was trying to pull down. It wasn’t exactly a knife cutting through butter, but it was kind of like a knife cutting through a tough piece of steak. In total, they wrecked two rooms in about 15 seconds. With one freaking machine.
I saw many a crumbling building after they had been set ablaze, especially in the 1970′s and 80′s, but for some reason, I had always assumed that brick hotel buildings were a little more tough. I thought there were steel girders involved or something that made these structures a little more impervious to casual demolition. Then again, I know absolutely nothing about construction.
In any event, the new City Hall will be completed in 2012, and will cost a cool $146 million. For those of you keeping score at home, this is the entire per-capita income for 6,637 Las Vegans.
With that amount of money, we could probably provide healthcare to a large portion of uninsured within the city.
That would be socialist, though, and thus evil. Unlike this project which was 100% funded by private companies under a capitalist free market paradigm.
God bless us everyone.
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- Queen of Hearts Hotel Demolition
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- Queen of Hearts Hotel Demolition
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- Queen of Hearts Hotel – Oscar Goodman and other officials
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- Queen of Hearts Hotel – Press
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- Queen of Hearts Hotel – Oscar Goodman
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- Queen of Hearts Hotel – Oscar Goodman and other officials
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- Queen of Hearts Hotel – Press
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- Queen of Hearts Hotel making way for new Las Vegas City Hall
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- Queen of Hearts Hotel making way for new Las Vegas City Hall
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- Queen of Hearts Hotel making way for new Las Vegas City Hall
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- Queen of Hearts Hotel making way for new Las Vegas City Hall
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- Queen of Hearts Hotel making way for new Las Vegas City Hall
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- Queen of Hearts Hotel making way for new Las Vegas City Hall
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- Queen of Hearts Hotel making way for new Las Vegas City Hall
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- Las Vegas City Hall
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- Las Vegas City Hall
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- Las Vegas City Hall
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- Las Vegas City Hall
Anyway, since I’ve been forced to buy this new building, I suppose I should look on the bright side.
It may be the location of my new office in the years to come, and it’s marginally closer to home. It is also directly across the street from the Clark Count Detention Center. Mayors will have a better chance of actually getting hit by feces flung from angry inmates who have been brought in for their eleventh parking violation. City Hall will also no longer be directly adjacent to the Mob Museum. This can only be a good thing.
I am, if nothing else, an eternal optimist.
All hail the construction of our new City Hall.
Apparently, we’ve earned it.
Written by mike_ch on February 3, 2010 at 1:06 am
Yeah, I didn’t like this idea either, and I’m usually a supporter of busy work projects if they’re large-scale enough and have a meaning in the greater scheme of things (Hoover Dam, anyone?)
I find it a bit funny that the awning on the hotel didn’t appear torn or punctured after two-thirds of the wall that it was decorating came crashing down on it.
Written by ColinFromLasVegas on February 3, 2010 at 1:27 am
You just reminded me of something, Rex.
I was standing around up at the Flamingo Monorail Station watching a backhoe type thingee working on the derelict Bourbon Street. Back around 2006 or so. I guess since it was not as big and close to the street (Flaming Oh), they decided to take it apart with a backhoe rather than implode it.
The dude operated it expertly. Ripping into different floors, reaching in there, pulling, then retreating, yanking out walls, then doing it again, little by little.
Next to him was a dude standing there with a water hose. Apparently there to keep the dirt and dust watered down so it don’t fly everywhere. Doin’ that environmentally friendly thing.
Well, after a little while, this backhoe was digging with the claw part on the second floor. Then the third floor. Then, all of a sudden, the building shuddered.
Then I laughed my ass off watching this backhoe driver waving at the dude with the hose. After he warned him, he sat down quick, violently hit a gear and backed it away from the derelict Bourbon Street at high speed. The dude with the hose THREW it down on the ground, turned and ran flailing his arms with this horrified look on his face, boogying as fast as he could away.
The whole damn southeast corner to the middle of the building just pancaked down all at once in a pile of wood, steel, dust and fabricated walls and ceiling!
The dudes were standing around scratchin’ their heads in amazement at how fast it went down.
Apparently, they closed Bourbon Street right on time. Because that sucker would have fell apart with little urging. It was a death trap waiting to happen.
Written by BigRedDogATL on February 3, 2010 at 3:10 am
I didn’t see the Mayor’s normal showgirls standing next to him in the video. Were the Showgirls absent for this public appearance by his honor?
Written by Ron from MI on February 3, 2010 at 3:19 am
“I had always assumed that brick hotel buildings were a little more tough.”
They’re not. Unless you have a structure that is secured by either a steel or CMU frame (concrete masonry unit,) it’s more than likely that its internal design could be weaker; that is to say that the Queen of Hearts’ exterior walls may have been built out of brick, but its structural support may have been wooden frame structure.
I think brick masonry does give some strength to the building, but not a whole lot; usually it”s for ascetic appearances. It’s no different than a when a tornado approaches straight at a small, one to two story house: bricks can be penetrated, wooden structures collapse.
Given it’s appearance, I think it was built before 1980, when the building codes were much looser. The vacancy of it also doesn’t give the place justice.
As far as building a new City Hall, I think its kind of awkward. They already have one from 1973 up and running. Why build another one? ‘Cuz the neighborhood looks blighted? If so, fix up the neighborhood and build something that’s workable. Not build another City Hall for Christ sakes……
Written by tully on February 3, 2010 at 3:44 am
So what will the old city hall be used for? It’s too new to just tear down.
Oh wait, we’re talking about Las Vegas.
Written by Rex on February 3, 2010 at 3:47 am
Supposedly the old City Hall will be turned into a Hotel/Retail/Casino venture backed by $1.2 Billion from investors. You know since the Lady Luck has had so much success near that location.
Also … I hear that Echelon Place will be the crown jewel in the Boyd empire.
Written by Kenny on February 3, 2010 at 3:54 pm
I heard the Queen of Hearts hotel is opening in the old City Hall
Written by George on February 3, 2010 at 9:24 pm
Back in the day when I graduated college the best and brightest for the most part got jobs in the private sector. Those who couldn’t for whatever reasons land the plumb private sector jobs often went for government jobs. Flash forward to today and USA Today reported recently that Federal workers make on average 30% more than those in comparable private sector positions. I have a friend who is completing his masters and recently told me about an internship at a county (to remain unnamed). He said on his first day on a Monday several of the clerks in cubicles all around him did no work and spent the first few hours just gabbing about many non-work related subjects including where they were going to go for lunch and their generous pensions and how they planned on spending their retirement.
Written by mad dog on February 4, 2010 at 6:16 am
WTF!! I have a prepaid reservation at the Queen of Hearts for next weekend!!!
Will those storm drain tunnels be dry by then?