Fremont Street is the locale of several Las Vegas firsts, including first hotel (Hotel Nevada, opened in 1906 and since renamed
Golden Gate), first telephone (1907), first paved street (1925), first Nevada gaming license (issued to the
Northern Club at 15 E. Fremont Street), first traffic light, first elevator (the
Apache Hotel in 1932), and the first high-rise (the
Fremont Hotel in 1956).
The Horseshoe was the first casino to install carpeting, while the
Golden Nugget was the first structure designed from the ground up to be a casino. For many years, the western end of Fremont Street was the area most commonly portrayed whenever producers wanted to evoke the lights of Las Vegas. The large number of
neon signs earned the area the nickname "Glitter Gulch". But over the years, the center of casino activity shifted from downtown to beyond the city limits. By 1992, when the
Las Vegas Strip held some 80 percent of the casino market, Downtown Las Vegas hotels and casinos sought to build an attraction that would lure more visitors.
Paramount Pictures head
Stanley Jaffe refused to approve a proposal to build a life-sized
Starship Enterprise, so the Fremont Street Experience was chosen. The Experience was financed and developed and is managed by FSE, LLC, a cooperative venture owned and operated by a group of downtown hotel/casino companies that own eight hotel/casinos. It was the second Las Vegas project of architect
Jon Jerde, whose firm was paid about $900,000 by the City of Las Vegas to create a show concept for the downtown area. Jerde's design included a floating sky parade that was to be suspended from the canopy. The concept was accepted by the Fremont Street Experience as well as the City of Las Vegas. Ultimately Jerde's sky parade concept was scrapped, but the architectural design for the canopy was carried through. The local
architect of record, Mary Kozlowski Architect Inc., cited the following as problems with Jerde's sky parade concept: • Perspective: The view of the parade from below made the concept unworkable — to properly view the project would require that visitors stand at a raised elevation such as a third or fourth floor vantage point. • Wind: The addition of the canopy over Fremont Street would create a wind tunnel causing a dangerous condition for people on the floats who would be trapped. Also the potential for harmonic motion as the floats swung back and forth in the wind potentially resulting in massive structural failure of the canopy and fatalities. • Sand: The combination of desert sand and the mechanical systems of the sky parade would make the attraction difficult to maintain. A new concept for the show was necessary quickly as funds were already available and the overall schedule was set. The concept for the show as it now exists was conceived by architect Mary Kozlowski who had grown up in Las Vegas and knew and loved Fremont Street. It was a light show on the underside of the canopy — the world's largest and most spectacular. Peter Smith, executive vice-president of Atlandia Design, recognized the beauty and practicality of the concept. Jerde, FSE and the City of Las Vegas embraced the show concept. On September 7, 1994, a five-block section of Fremont Street was closed to automobile traffic for good, and
groundbreaking was held on September 16. After that, the digging up of the street and the installation of the support poles continued into December. On February 15, 1995, the space frames were brought in and the roof began to take shape. The last piece was installed in July 1995. The official public preview was held in conjunction with the
Nevada Symphony. The light show was opened on December 14, 1995. The first New Year's party was held on December 31, 1995. In 1996, a horse-and-rider neon sign from the
Hacienda hotel-casino was placed at the FSE's east entrance, at the intersection of
Las Vegas Boulevard and Fremont Street. It was added by the
Neon Museum. Permanent stages were added in the early 2000s, eliminating the need to bring in temporary stages for every event. The sound system was upgraded in June 2001. On June 14, 2004, a $17 million upgrade was unveiled that would feature a 12.5-million
LED display and more color combinations than the original display, which was composed of
incandescent lighting. The initial $70 million investment and the continued improvements have resulted in successful and ongoing downtown redevelopment. The City of Las Vegas and the downtown casinos have benefited as more than 60% of visitors to the downtown area are lured by the overhead light show and stage shows and stay to enjoy the attractions of the nearby casinos. A $32 million renovation of the video screen began in May 2019 and was scheduled to conclude six months later. New LED lights would make the screen four times the resolution and seven times brighter than before. The upgrade was designed and constructed by the Illinois-based Watchfire Signs. Also in development was a
smartphone app that would allow visitors to choose the next song to be played on Fremont Street, and would also allow them to watch the canopy show on their phone. In November 2019, plans were announced for a new LED sign, 27 feet by 14 feet, that would show images of Fremont Street throughout its history. The sign, part of the $32 million renovation, would be built on the east side of Main Street and Fremont Street, and was expected to be operational the following month. Work on the canopy video display was concluded as of December 2019, with the official unveiling scheduled for that New Year's Eve. In 2020, ShotPoint gunshot detection system was integrated into the giant LED canopy and the existing cameras to alert law enforcement to gunshots in real-time. In addition to over 300 video cameras monitoring the crowd beneath the canopy; at the close of 2024, 22 new surveillance cameras that scan license plates for law enforcement were activated along streets that intersect with the Fremont Street Experience. Part of the
Academy Award winning film
Anora was filmed at the Fremont Street Experience in 2023. ==Major features==