Real news. Real stories. Real voices.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Supported by

Clark County Strikes Deal To Cover Fontainebleau

The Fontainebleau has sat 70 percent completed at the north end of the Strip since the Great Recession now the county is forcing its owner to cover it up.
Neaco at English Wikipedia [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

The Fontainebleau has sat 70 percent completed at the north end of the Strip since the Great Recession now the county is forcing its owner to cover it up.

For six years, the Fontainebleau tower has sat gaping at the north end of the Strip. 

Some have called the abandoned project an eyesore, which is the motivation behind the decision by Clark County Zoning Commission Wednesday to force owner and billionaire Carl Icahn to cover it up. 

Icahn had asked for yet another time extension to complete exterior work on the building, which presented the opportunity for the county to add a clause that Icahn had six months to put a cover over the unfinished portions of the building. 

The cover will be made of fabric and paint, and will cost an upward of $2 million. 

"I wanted at least the front section that third story that just like a gaping hole at least covered up in some way, shape or form," County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani told KNPR's State of Nevada.  

Giunchigliani did the same thing with the Resorts World property, which was originally the Echelon project and with the Venetian when the casino didn't finish one its towers.

The commissioner said it is now a requirement of companies developing large buildings that they have a decommissioning plan.

"So at least there is a way to fill the holes back in or complete some of the projects in a different way," she explained. 

Chris Giunchigliani, Clark County Commissioner, District E 

Stay Connected
Prior to taking on the role of Broadcast Operations Manager in January 2021, Rachel was the senior producer of KNPR's State of Nevada program for 6 years. She helped compile newscasts and provided coverage for and about the people of Southern Nevada, as well as major events such as the October 1 shooting on the Las Vegas strip, protests of racial injustice, elections and more. Rachel graduated with a bachelor's degree of journalism and mass communications from New Mexico State University.