Priest Pepone, a local rapper, hangs up fliers recently for a show that he was performing in on Fremont Street. The city and businesses are trying to turn a six-block area east of Las Vegas Boulevard into a downtown arts and entertainment district. Photo by John Locher.

For all of Las Vegas' entertainment, there's one thing Aaron Chepenik says it's missing.

"There's no place to park the car and go bar- hopping," said the owner of The Griffin, a bar that will open soon.

He and others are betting that a six-block area downtown will, with the city's help, become a downtown entertainment district.

Dubbed the Fremont East District, or FED, the area begins on the east side of Las Vegas Boulevard and runs to Eighth Street, and from north to south stretches from Ogden to Carson avenues.

Two drinking establishments, Take 1 Nightclub and the Beauty Bar, already are open.

Construction is well under way for two other venues, The Griffin on Fremont Street, and Downtown, a cocktail room around the corner on Las Vegas Boulevard South. Both are set to open in August or September.

The city has a commitment to put a 10,000-square-foot nightclub at 601 E. Fremont St. A number of other leases are being privately negotiated in the area, according to Frank Elam, president of the district's owners association.

Across Las Vegas Boulevard, Hennessey's Tavern and Micki Finnz Fish House and Bar recently have opened. Above those stores, the owner plans on putting in a jazz club called Brass.

The club owners and the city want to offer something different from the velvet-roped ultra-lounges in the Strip casinos. The city has changed ordinances to allow bars to be next to each other in the area, for there to be valet parking on the street, and to reduce the cost of liquor licenses in the area.

Together the city and property owners plan on spending $5.9 million to remake the street, with work starting in August.

Those who currently visit the area could be forgiven though, if they don't immediately spot the potential. Banners on the light poles proclaiming the "Fremont East Entertainment District" might have revelers looking for a good time with a paper-bagged bottle and a lady of that other Fremont Street experience.

The street is dotted with check-cashing places, empty storefronts and a souvenir shop dubiously claiming the "World's Largest Watch Display."

It's what Michael Cornthwaite, co-owner of Downtown, calls "earthy."

"This is an older part of town," admitted Chepenik. "But at least it looks like a city."

"Instead of a manufactured foam facade," Cornthwaite interjected.

"We're looking for a whole organic transformation, from almost an urban slum to an urban entertainment district," Cornthwaite said.

If this is supposed to be a natural progression of a downtrodden neighborhood into a hip hangout, the city wants to be the fertilizer.

In August, the city's project to remake the street includes a large neon sign arching over Fremont Street as a beacon to those coming from the Fremont Street Experience and Hennessey's. A median will be added to the street, with neon signs and palm trees. Sidewalks will be widened. The streets will be cut down to a single lane each way to slow traffic. Cutouts will be in front of the businesses for valet parking at night.

Owners are chipping in nearly $2 million of that cost.

Elam said the plan has been under way for about three years.

"Anything you do with the city takes time," he said. "But it wasn't only the city, the owners were skeptical at first. And you're seeing results."

He said police have cracked down on prostitution and drug dealing in the area. The property owners association is also considering hiring private security, or entering into an agreement with the Fremont Street Experience to extend its patrols and maintenance, once the streetscape is up.

The city has also awarded grants to owners to improve their facades.

Scott Adams, Las Vegas' director of economic development, was working for the Memphis redevelopment agency when the first brick was laid on Beale Street in 1982.

"We're there right now," he said of Fremont East's stage in development.

He said the effort to transform the area is part of the city's larger vision to remake downtown. "When you look at healthy downtowns, they have arts districts and entertainment districts," he said. "We're trying to create an urban lifestyle we never had in Las Vegas."

Besides the entertainment venues, the other side of the equation is the housing. Kevin Kelly, partner in Streamline Towers on Las Vegas Boulevard, said the 278 condominium units there will open in the summer of 2008.

The city recently entitled two more condominium towers to a group headed by Alan Mruvka, founder of E! Entertainment Television. Those buildings will be at Eighth Street and Fremont.

Mayor Oscar Goodman, who has tied himself to downtown's redevelopment, said the entertainment district has buy-in from the owners.

"This is a key part to the equation to make this into a great downtown," he said.