Steelman says the placement of the sportsbook , at the back of the casino , was a debate , but one that was resolved quickly .
“ The sportsbook takes up the entire Main Street side of the building ,” he says . “ It was a logical thing to us because , you know , the milk is at the back of the store . Same thing . Most of the foot traffic that wants to see the sportsbook has to walk through the corner of First and Fremont . So , it ’ s a logical thing to locate it on that side of the building .”
Parking Paradise
Parking is always an issue in Downtown Las Vegas , as it is usually in every city ’ s downtown . While there are lots of parking garages , they are the usual dark , dirty caverns , opening awkwardly onto the casino . Not so with Circa . The “ Garage Mahal ” is located across Main Street from the property , and will be a different experience than any other garage in Las Vegas .
“ I ’ ve been talking about parking for a long , long time ,” says Stevens . “ I didn ’ t want to design an average parking garage . Parking garages are generally built with the thought of minimizing costs . You ’ ve got low ceilings and inadequate lighting . When you have to cut costs or reduce overtime , they stop cleaning the garage .
“ We wanted to create something where the parking spaces were a little more spacious . We wanted to have great lighting . We wanted to have extreme cleanliness . We wanted to add in music . We wanted to add in art . We wanted to add in concierges throughout various areas of the garage . We feel lucky , from a design perspective , that Circa is the very first hotel-casino that I ’ m aware of , that ever really contemplated ride-sharing into its hotelcasino design .”
Steelman says it ’ s part of creating an arrival experience unmatched in all of Las Vegas .
“ One of the things that we tried to do was to create a ‘ wow ’ experience in the lobby ,” he says . “ When people step from their Uber , at that moment they ’ d look up at the highest level of the sportsbook . You ’ re walking in from the garage and seeing our centerpiece . It ’ s quite an exciting look , and so that was part of the overall planning .”
The bridge over Main Street from Garage Mahal to the casino isn ’ t as elaborate as Stevens originally envisioned .
“ At the end of the day , Derek , together with the Boyd Group ( which owns several neighboring casinos ), made a wise decision to build a very thin bridge that would allow the respect for Las Vegas that Main Street deserves . You don ’ t obstruct Main Street Station or the California , which need that visual aspect connecting them to Fremont Street . That led to a very good solution , and it was an interesting exercise for us , to try to make it as small as humanly possible .”
Pooling Resources
The biggest “ wow ” factors for Circa , however , notwithstanding the massive
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