By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Count building construction as one of the essential businesses that was open in Las Vegas Wednesday during the first day of the massive statewide hotel, casino, restaurant, club and bar shutdowns amid the COVID-19 virus pandemic that has jolted the Vegas economy.
Construction workers were on the job in metro Las Vegas including at the Raiders stadium site, Resorts World Las Vegas location on the Strip and Circa hotel-casino in downtown Las Vegas a day after Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak made an emotional appeal to state residents to stay away from crowds and stay home. The commercial shutdowns in Nevada are consistent with what’s happening in many states across the country as national health officials try to stem the spread of this contagious respiratory virus that has gone worldwide.
It was full steam ahead at construction sites around the valley. Here are workers taking a lunch break at the Raiders stadium site.
The Raiders say their $1.97 billion stadium project will be ready July 31, with preseason Raiders games, a Garth Brooks concert and UNLV football game scheduled for August.
The overall stadium project of nearly $2 billion includes a construction budget of $1.4 billion, with Southern Nevada giving $750 million to the NFL team to help build the 65,000-seat domed venue on 62.5 acres on the west side of I-15 across from Mandalay Bay.
The spread and threat of the coronavirus prompted NBA, NHL, MLS and MLB officials bring their seasons to a screeching halt. It’s unclear when those major sports leagues will re-start, or in the case of Major League Baseball, launch its 2020 season.
While NFL player signings drew lots of media attention this week, there’s the great unknown attached to this worldwide virus, which has infected NBA stars like Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz and Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets. President Donald Trump urged people to not be part of groups of 10 or more people and also said it could be July or August by the time the COVID-19 health crisis eases. That timeline dovetails into the opening the Raiders stadium and the start of the NFL preseason.
From the Raiders stadium site bordered by Polaris Avenue, Hacienda Boulevard, Dean Martin Drive and Russell Road LVSportsBiz.com made a short trip to the Strip to see one of America’s most famous stretches of asphalt. Car traffic was light on Las Vegas Boulevard matched by light foot traffic on the sidewalks. Check out videos and photos:
Approaching Tropicana along Las Vegas Boulevard, one of the busiest intersections on the Strip.
Here’s the Strip heading north, approaching what is usually a very busy Flamingo Boulevard intersection.
And here’s the sidewalk in front of the Bellagio fountains, which are typically a major tourist draw. Now, two kids on skateboards enjoyed the sidewalk to themselves.
The Mandalay Bay hotel-casino scene was quiet, and also eerie.
The scenes along the Strip were surreal without the tourists — a guy with a teddy bear at a bus stop in front of Mandalay Bay, Elvis in a wheelchair in front of Planet Hollywood, and a guy next to a Zoltar fortune machine on the Strip’s north side.
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