According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, Wynn Resorts recently scrapped plans for a 38-acre lagoon, a the project that joins a list of unbuilts that includes a London-themed resort, condos, stadiums, and a helium balloon attraction. The reasons for the sudden cancellations include a lack of financing and managerial changes. “People probably have bigger dreams in Las Vegas than they do elsewhere,” said Tom Murphy, a senior resident fellow with the Urban Land Institute.
Standing before the Clark County Commission in summer 2014, ex-NBA player Jackie Robinson needed the green light for his then-$1.3 billion idea. He wanted to build a 22,000-seat arena, 44-story hotel and more on the north Strip. To make his case, he told commissioners about his basketball career, how coach Jerry Tarkanian recruited him to UNLV in the 1970s, and how he met Sammy Davis Jr.
Commissioner Lawrence Weekly told the audience that “naysayers” thought the project may never get built. “But I’m just so honored on this historic day to sit here and say, ‘You know what? Oh well, we’re gonna give him a chance anyway,’” he added. “We hope that this is a legacy that we will all remember,” Weekly said.
Today, Robinson’s project is a giant hole in the ground.
