County rejects Strip site for Dinner in the Sky
A company that hoists patrons 160 feet aloft so they can enjoy a bird’s-eye view of Las Vegas while they dine at an elegant table saw its plans crash to Earth.
Clark County commissioners gave the thumbs down Wednesday to a local entrepreneur’s request to move his fledgling Dinner in the Sky to the Strip’s north end.
Their resistance prompted the man to withdraw the request. Now he must search for another site.
Michael Hinden hoped to lease a portion of the former New Frontier hotel site at Fashion Show Drive and Las Vegas Boulevard.
For eight months, he has run his business off west Sahara Avenue after the city of Las Vegas granted him a limited permit. At that site, he can operate the crane only on Fridays and Saturdays; but Hinden said he needs a place where he can offer sky dinners every night.
Hinden came before commissioners with two strikes against him: Steve Wynn and Boyd Gaming said his enterprise didn’t belong near multibillion-dollar casinos because it was mobile and temporary.
“That’s the sort of business that should not be allowed on Las Vegas Boulevard,” said attorney Todd Bice, representing Wynn. “If you open it up for this applicant, what’s next? People can throw up a pizza shack.”
Hinden argued that it was wrong to compare him to a low-end vendor. People pay $200 to be strapped into a seat at a dinner table atop a platform and get lifted 160 feet by crane, he said.
Hinden said he borrowed the concept from companies offering sky dinners in multiple cities globally. And he said he was ready to sign a “seven-digit lease” for two years on what is an unsightly lot and later build a permanent structure as part of the Plaza Hotel project.
But commissioners sided with Wynn. Some cited safety concerns, which Hinden tried to address. Others said they liked the idea but didn’t believe it should be on the Strip.
“I personally think it’s a great concept. Certainly it brings something unique and new to our valley,” Commissioner Larry Brown said. “But our Strip is by our statute and policy a special place.”
Commissioner Rory Reid said he could picture himself with his 13-year-old son perched high above the ground, eating dinner.
But Reid echoed, “It’s the wrong location.”
Contact reporter Scott Wyland at swyland@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.