Like an endlessly down-at-the-heels vaudeville producer, the city continues to spend millions to run a variety of acts on stage in an attempt to save Glitter Gulch.

A comedy team one minute, a magic act the next. A prancing pony, a dancing girl. And jugglers, lots of jugglers -- of bowling pins and accounting ledgers.

And keep the hook handy. You never know when you'll need to yank one act off stage and replace it with another.

Notice how I didn't say the city was having trouble saving downtown. That's because, once you set foot off Fremont Street, redevelopment is occurring all over downtown.

But a couple of recent events illustrate just how difficult it can be to put on a Fremont Street show that pleases everyone. Or much of anyone, for that matter.

First comes the news that the art-deco debacle called Neonopolis has been sold by Prudential Real Estate investors to FAEC Holding Wirrula for $25 million. The Review-Journal first reported the negotiations in March.

That's not a typo. That's $25 million, as in $7.6 million less than the original $32.6 million construction price tag of the city-funded parking garage at Neonflopolis. That's a fraction of the mall's original construction price, not to mention the additional millions invested by a parade of well-intentioned tenants.

That's $25 million, also known as "a steal."

Ah, Neonflopolis. Its unofficial motto should be, "Where big investment capital and the dreams of small business entrepreneurs go to die."

The movie multiplex and mall isn't so bad, really. Jillian's is funky and fun and, if you're in the market for sunglasses and souvenirs, it's a proverbial treasure trove.

But its marketing has never been sound -- a theater complex located far from the neighborhoods where moviegoers live, for instance -- and over the years it has become known as a $100 million mediocrity.

In a valley that in recent years has found land values racing skyward, somehow Neonflopolis has lost value. It's also been the site of several big business ideas that never quite materialized.

My personal favorite was the proposed transgender nightclub, which was rejected by the property's owner apparently because it threatened to bring too many paying customers to the mall. And that would have caused sleeping cashiers to go into cardiac arrest.

Another good idea is one proposed by officials with Fox Sports Net. They want to convert three of the 14 mostly pristine theaters in the Cineplex into poker tournament television studios. That plan has hit construction delays and may yet bust out.

It's easy to bash former Mayor Jan Jones for opening the door that led to the big red garage, Neonopolis, and the city's protracted eminent domain battle with the Pappas family. But you need only stroll Fremont Street and Las Vegas Boulevard to sense the frustration she must have felt with the long odds of reviving Glitter Gulch in the shadow of the Strip.

Although he's had far more success in the redevelopment game, Mayor Oscar Goodman has felt some of that same frustration on Fremont Street. And not even the Martini Mayor is brash enough to take a wrecking ball and do what needs to be done: Namely, whack some of the street's green-felt relics and replace them with shiny, name-brand hotels.

If the Fremont Street Experience awning and the Neonopolis mall aren't the answer, will the city find the sizzle it seeks by bringing the Champ Car Series Grand Prix of Las Vegas to downtown? With an initial outlay of $500,000 for road improvements, it's a cheap entry into the race scene. And, for now, no one seems concerned about the cost to the city of future races.

With Neonflopolis changing hands, it will be interesting to see the new owners' vision for the place. I'd suggest they sub-lease the joint to Crazy Horse Too owner Rick Rizzolo, but the topless bar mogul figures to be busy dealing with his federal obligations in the coming months.

The two-bit vaudevillian in me would suggest they create the world's largest McDonald's, but when it comes to Neonflopolis no one is lovin' it.

Perhaps there's time to convert it into a Grand Prix racing-themed mall before the big event gets here in 2007.

As for a catchy name, well, they can always call it "The Pits."

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0295.