Opinion:

He kept the party going on Fremont Street

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Christopher DeVargas

Jeff Victor, president of Fremont Street Experience, makes a few remarks Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012, before unveiling downtown’s newest addition, SlotZilla, a permanent two-level zip line that spans 1,700 feet through the downtown canopy.

Published Sun, Sep 13, 2015 (2 a.m.)

Updated Mon, Sep 14, 2015 (10:54 a.m.)

During his nearly 10 years as president of the Fremont Street Experience, Jeff Victor helped bring the party to downtown Las Vegas.

Not just occasionally. Every night.

Before joining the Fremont Street Experience, Victor spent a segment of his career as an executive with Boomtown Casinos, which was based in Reno and operated the Boomtown in New Orleans. As Victor brought visitors to the Big Easy, he realized activity on Bourbon Street was inconsistent.

“I found myself saying, ‘I hope there is something happening there tonight,’” Victor said Sept. 9, the day he announced he would leave his post at the Fremont Street Experience on Sept. 30. “It was really hit-and-miss, and when I arrived on Fremont Street, it was the same thing. We only had entertainment two nights out of the week, and I felt bad for people who were visiting and checking in on a Wednesday night.”

Today, live performances are staged every night at the Fremont Street Experience’s three stages, and the SlotZilla zip line operates daily and nightly. Those entertainment options effectively have complemented the Viva Vision video canopy.

Now, something always is happening on Fremont Street.

“We wanted it to feel like we are throwing a party every night,” Victor said. “And the major events have been huge on Fremont Street. If you look at Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day, we have some of the biggest parties in the country on those nights. New Year’s Eve has grown from one night to five, depending on what day of the week New Year’s Eve falls.”

Nearly 15 million tourists descend on Fremont Street each year, and that doesn’t count the locals who regularly visit.

Victor isn’t moving far from his home base, either.

“I’ll be remaining very close to home here,” he said.

• The Oscar Dinner Series, which stars former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman in a presentation centering on the life and times of Oscar Goodman, now is presented with episodic titles.

The next talk is set for 6:30 p.m. Sept. 24 at Oscar’s Beef Booze & Broads Steakhouse at the Plaza. Episode 8 is titled, “My Toughest Case.”

Which case would that be?

“Everybody is asking that,” Goodman said. “It’s funny. There has been a lot of curiosity about this one.”

And that’s the answer. He’s not saying. Even the management team at Oscar’s Steakhouse, including General Manager Jason Gordon, isn’t being informed of the specific subject.

Typically, the wait staff likes to know what to feature on the dinner menu so it can appeal to the person or people on whom Goodman focuses. But Goodman has not yet even given a hint for this talk. The dinner is to be a three-course themed affair, so Goodman will need to get that information to the kitchen sometime before 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

But right now, his only clue is, “All lies matter.” That’s it.

“It’s a very good story and a very good case,” Goodman said. “It happened years ago, but it’s very timely today.”

With this his eighth presentation, it might seem Goodman has picked clean the best of his best stories. But that is not the case. As he says, “There are a lot of stories in my life that have not been told.”

• Workers building the Las Vegas Arena poured the concrete floor of the venue in the early morning hours of Sept. 9, with 40 trucks lumbering into the venue for an event dubbed #IceFloorPour on social media — an indication of residents’ wish for an NHL team for the arena.

But the MGM Resorts’ venture isn’t the only venue undergoing widespread construction.

The Thomas & Mack Center’s $72 million overhaul is well underway. All of the seats have been removed from the 32-year-old arena and more than half have been replaced. The new capacity will be slightly less than the previous 18,776 for basketball, as space to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act is being added.

Restrooms and concession stands are expected to be finished by the first week of October. New WiFi access is being installed, too, and the construction crew is reporting no delays. The project should be about finished by the time the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo returns Dec. 3.

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