How Las Vegas Missed Out on a Life-Sized Starship Enterprise 240
T-Kir writes "Apparently 20 years ago, instead of the Fremont Experience, downtown Las Vegas was actually close to building a life sized version of the refit USS Enterprise, and would have — had it not been for the then studio chairman Stanley Jaffe nixing it at the final meeting. The project had support from Paramount licensing and then-CEO Sherry Lansing, the Las Vegas Mayor, and the downtown redevelopment committee, but not opinion of Mr Jaffe: 'I don't want to be the guy that approved this and then it's a flop and sitting out there in Vegas forever.' As a Trek fan, I'm saddened that this never got built because I feel that this would've appealed to a much wider audience than science fiction fans. Props to io9 for picking this story up."
Re:Fuck Paramount execs. Galactica FTW! (Score:5, Interesting)
Galactica was pseudo religious military wank with a dash of body horror and a vague stab at challenging social issues like racism to be honest, an homage to the Bush era.
Re:WHICH ONE?! (Score:4, Interesting)
Can't really see the issue they had. Everything in Vegas gets blown up after a decade or so. It would have paid for itself in that time -- especially if it looked as good as it does in the pics, and did inside too.
If they installed working phasers they could have taken a lot of work out of demolishing casinos!
Re:They are timeless and universal (Score:5, Interesting)
The other guy was probably talking abut the REPLICAS of those things.
It's like you've never been to Vegas ever.
That and the guy from Paramount too. They're fine with blowing up a local landmark and puting a redundant Italian themed casino in it's place.
He doesn't undeestand how Vegas works (Score:4, Interesting)
Nothing sits for long after it stops being popular/profitable, they implode it and build something else.
Re:They are timeless and universal (Score:2, Interesting)
Can you honestly say with a straight face that a crumbling Enterprise in Vegas would draw the nation in to repair it as was done with the Statue of Liberty?
Actually, yes. It's Nevada. It's a giant desert... nothing is ever going to 'crumble' out there... There are cars out there that were parked in the 1930s and except for damage caused by the sun are still exactly the way they were left. If you build something out there and right after civilization ends, it would take hundreds of years before it started to show traces of weathering beyond what you'd expect from being sandblasted. -_-
Re:Really just as well (Score:5, Interesting)
Each one of those was an original masterpiece designed to be something different and never seen before. Usually it was built from state-of-the-art materials and construction techniques. The Eiffel Tower wasn't even intended to be a permanent structure.
A replica life size model of a TV series starship might work if it were part of an office block, startup incubator, luxury hotel or cinema multiplex. The exterior wouldn't diminish the functionality of the inside space, but the functionality would pay for the maintenance.
The best location in my opinion would be as part of an airport hotel or conference center. Imagine having your flight coming in through the fog or haze and the first thing you see is a spaceship coming into view like something out of the Wrath of Khan.
port.
Re:Really just as well (Score:4, Interesting)
Vegas did indeed have the coolest Star Trek exhibit/show. It eventually turned into a very expensive and poorly managed coolest Start Trek exhibit/show. When you charge in the neighborhood of the admission price of a full theme park for what IN a full theme park would be a couple of shows, you're not going to attract non-geeks and the generally curious. I went there every time I was in Vegas while it was there and I'm glad I did, but I also watched the prices go up, the quantity of shows go down, Quark's Bar always inaccessible because of being booked for a wedding or some "special event" or just plain closed early because somebody wanted to save payroll. My first visit, which was several years after the attraction opened, I had to wait in decently long lines to get in. The last couple of years--barely any, and I STILL couldn't get in to have a drink at Quark's.
Point is: it's not good to say something failed because people didn't want it. Management or lack of it has a LOT to do with stuff like that.