He’s all set: Designer takes flair from stage to Strip

Look, it's the Statue of Liberty at New York-New York. And over there is the Eiffel Tower at Paris-Las Vegas. How about cruising The Venetian canals in a gondola?

Architecture critics sneer at the Strip's facades and knock-offs, but those features make Las Vegas the themed capital of the world, said Peter Mensching, president and co-founder of Henderson-based Themeing Solutions.

What happens here is copied everywhere, he said.

"You go to casinos all over the world and you see traces of what's been done here," the third-generation theatrical fabricator said.

Mensching brought the sinking pirate ship to Treasure Island, the Siegfried & Roy stage show to The Mirage, Star Trek: The Experience to the Las Vegas Hilton and upside-down glass parasols to Wynn Las Vegas. The firm is now working on a massive chandelier project for a gaming client.

Themeing Solutions, established in 1999 by Mensching and his business partner, Joseph Vernola, specializes in the design and construction of unique architectural themes. The company, with about 50 employees, moved into its 47,000-square-foot headquarters at 151 Gallagher Crest Drive earlier this year.

Mensching is rooted in Broadway theater, where both his father and grand-
father worked on set construction. Before coming to Las Vegas in 1991, he was vice president and general manager of Showtech in Connecticut.

Question: What do you consider your best work in Las Vegas and why?

Answer: I'm going to say the Silverton hotel and casino. It allowed us an opportunity to truly work with the owner of the property to do the design-build and totally retrofit the entire inside. That was Boomtown then. We developed an instant rapport with (general manager) Craig Cavalier and (owner) Ed Roski. They put their faith in our imagination and allowed us to create an environment that was different and unique for their vision.

Question: You started your career back East and did the Treasure Island pirate ship while based in Connecticut. Why did you move to Las Vegas?

Answer: All the architects, the designers ... a lot of dreamers are here in Vegas. When I was here doing Treasure Island, I realized this was the hub of themed projects. So many people involved in thematic construction are located here, or spend time in our city learning about these large casino projects. We did the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut and at least two-thirds of the trade contractors were all Las Vegas-based companies.

Question: How did you expand this business?

Answer: The business started out very slow. Our business plan showed a slow steady growth pattern over 10 years. After the first year, that plan went out the window when we were awarded a $6.4 million project (Mohegan Sun), when my projections showed $500,000.

Question: Where else might your company find work outside the casino industry?

Answer: We've done some commercial and high-end residential. We did the time capsule monument downtown for the city of Las Vegas. We did 60,000 linear feet of structural logs for Animal Kingdom Lodge at Disneyworld in Orlando, Fla. They're nonsteel, structural Fiberglas logs that can withstand 140 mph winds.

Question: How much did it cost to building the sinking pirate ship at Treasure Island?

Answer: About $9 million. That was 20 years ago.

Question: Is that your biggest contract?

Answer: No. The Silverton was $15 million.

Question: Who is your toughest competition in this business?

Answer: Our niche has only three competitors nationwide. We're the only company of its type that facilitates all facets under one roof -- steel fabrication, woodwork, art and finish, electrical, lighting.

Question: Where do you find your employees and what qualifications do you look for?

Answer: We have two different types of employees -- staff management and shop. With staff members, I look for diversification within the construction industry, team players with abilities and creativity. Our shop is under the carpenters union. This is the only one of its kind in the nation. It's the only one with 13 different disciplines under one agreement with the carpenters, so they allow us latitude to bring in people from the Local (union) and to bring people from outside the Local. We get some kids from VoTech (high school). In five years they become multifaceted, skilled workers in five to seven different fields, so it's kind of a training camp.

Question: When did you realize this would be your career?

Answer: Probably when I was about 10 years old. I grew up in a household of Broadway theatrical construction members. The first 15 years of my career was building shows in New York. Broadway became boring because we were constantly building in a black box. Constraints were very limited. After Siegfried and Roy came out (with their show), I realized and saw the need for someone like me in Vegas.

Question: Who taught you the most about this business?

Answer: My father.

Question: What did you learn?

Answer: Value. Pride. Dignity. No ego. I only got to work with him for one year at Radio City Music Hall. The rest was all conversations when he got home. After that it's just job-by-job experience. With that you run into the best artisans and consultants in the world. You learn something from each of them.

Question: What do you see for the company's future in Las Vegas? The trend toward themed casinos seems to have diminished.

Answer: What you need to know is the true meaning of the word theming because theming is not Disneyland. Not at all. It's just changing in its form. What used to be cartoonish -- the MGM Grand (Adventures) theme park, the Disneyesque theme -- has gone away. What you're seeing now is a high-end earthy use of materials, almost like a new-age architecture. We've gone with the flow of changes in the industry. We don't care if it's glass, structural steel ... it could be Fiberglas.

Question: You've done a lot of work for Steve Wynn's resorts. What's it like working with him?

Answer: Steve's a hands-on guy. One day he comes to the shop and calls everybody together and he says to the crew, "This whole area (Parasol Up, Parasol Down lounge at Wynn Las Vegas), this environment I'm creating is the emotional centerpiece of my property. I just want everyone to understand that."

Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.