October 2021 | Eyesore

Commentary on architectural blunders in monthly serial.

Behold The Moon Resort and Casino proposed as the next big Wow for Las Vegas in global capital’s never-ending search for titillating alternatives to reality. The usual superlatives apply to this $5-billion project: 5,000 suites, 2,500-seat theater, an attached shopping mall, and, double-Wow, a planetarium. Developers Moon World Resorts Inc. say the 750-foot-tall moon building will contain an indoor “lunar surface.” They plan to charge $500 for 90 minute sessions cavorting around in it. Better bring a book. Or, better yet, rent a car and drive thirty miles outside Las Vegas into the desert where, at least, the tarantulas and gila monsters will keep you company in the desolate landscape.

Do you have any idea how badly Las Vegas has decrepitated in the past two years? I get regular reports from someone employed in retail right on the Strip. Since Covid came to visit, the fat cats and Asian “whale” gamblers of yesteryear have been largely replaced by west coast gang-bangers. The result: stupendous impromptu pageants of street violence: stabbings, shootings, beat-downs, stompings, often in broad daylight. With restaurant closings, visitors have had to get their meals from the CVS snack shelves. A new class of homeless addicts and psychotics appeared and formed LA-style campgrounds in the parking lots and nebulous zones between the massive casino properties. The grafitti cleaners can’t get ahead of the taggers. This is certainly not Bugsy Siegel’s town, nor even Steve Wynn’s. Las Vegas has entered the Blade Runner phase of its destined-to-be rather brief existence. If the capital markets tank as expected this fall, the Moon Resort and Casino won’t make it past the proposal stage. But I guess it’s the thought that counts.

Thanks to Mike Cather for the nomination!