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A group of local business owners is asking the government to revitalize their stores, saying that construction work that was supposed to be temporary construction for the first-ever Las Vegas Grand Prix F1 race held about two months ago is still affecting business operations. is seeking support. Songs worth tens of millions of dollars.
important facts
About a dozen local business owners along the Grand Prix Circuit sent a letter this week to the Clark County Commission and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau asking for “some form” of financial relief to avoid a “class action lawsuit” over their actions. I asked for Refers to catastrophic changes to roads that impede access to businesses.
At a public meeting this week, owners of businesses ranging from gift shops to restaurants said they had been in business for years due to construction closures that began months before the race and the construction of the Flamingo Road bridge, about two blocks from the Strip. The company said it had suffered a loss of $23 million as a result of the workplace accident. Potential new customers couldn’t reach your business.
Lisa Mayo DeRiso, who represents local business owners in their fight, told Forbes that the construction would “cut off all the road traffic that local businesses depend on” and that rumors swirled almost two days after the race. Even after a month has passed, the bridge still stands, he said. Leaders could make it permanent, but Mayo-DeRiso claims it would be a “death sentence”.
Randy Mirkin, owner of Batista’s Hole in the Wall since 1970 and general manager of Stage Door Casino since 1976, told Forbes that he experienced a loss in revenue until F1 came to town. He said he never did, and now estimates he has a total loss of $4.5 million between the two businesses. : “We had 100 to 200 cancellations every night, and it was just, ‘We’re really sorry, but we can’t get you down there.'”
Wade Vaughn, who has run Jay’s Market convenience store on Flamingo Road since 2006, said he had to lay off five employees due to poor sales from the race, which is about half of his 2022 income. We estimate that our revenue decreased by $4.3 million. Gasoline sales per day increased from 3 million gallons to approximately 1.3 million gallons. The bridge passes directly through Jay’s Market.
Clark County officials did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment Friday and declined to speak to the Las Vegas Review, citing “threat of pending litigation.”
A media request submitted to F1 was not returned on Friday morning.
Points to note
Mayo-DeRiso said business owners are asking for two things. One is to have the temporary bridge removed and completed by Feb. 11, when an estimated 450,000 people will be in the city for the Super Bowl. F1 promises the race will bring $1.3 billion in economic impact to Clark County, Mayo-DeRiso says government will step in to make up for losses suffered by local businesses in the Flamingo Road-Koval Lane-Harmon Avenue area argued that it should be done. She said her owners are considering legal action if nothing is done.
Main background
The Las Vegas Grand Prix, which will be raced on the Strip from November 16 to 18, has been controversial since its concept was approved in early 2022. The city signed a 10-year contract with F1 in February 2023. Ahead of the race, F1 removed trees in front of the Bellagio, closed fountains, drained the Venetian’s gondola canals and blocked views of the Strip with fences and scaffolding, said Michael Green, a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. told Fortune magazine. A big fuss. Almost two months on, the unrest has not subsided and Markin said local residents feared what would happen during the remaining time on the F1 contract. “No one intentionally expected this to happen. It was just bad decision-making and it hurt everyone,” he said. “We’re not going down the litigation path. We just want them to step up and say, ‘We made a mistake. Let’s fix this in the next nine years of racing.’ Markin and Mayo-DeRiso said that during the height of race construction, local residents were spending hours commuting to work and tourists were not traveling to areas where construction was taking place. He said it has become almost impossible to enter. “The traffic was so bad that taxis and car services said, ‘No, we’re not going to go to that area,'” Mirkin said. Ferraro’s Ristorante, another local business that signed a letter sent to authorities this week, has gone from serving a few hundred dinner guests per day to a few dozen, a drop in potential customers. Markin added that’s because they can’t reasonably travel two miles from the Strip.
important quotes
“Every day that goes by, they’re still losing money. If the bridge doesn’t come down, they can’t hope to benefit from Super Bowl traffic,” Mayo-DeRiso said. . “And if they leave it alone forever, all of these businesses will go out of business. It’s not the government’s role to decide who stays in business and who doesn’t.”
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