Las Vegas residents and vistors alike finally got some great news– they just may be able to actually see the New Year’s Eve half-million dollars of fireworks displays this year! 
Las Vegas Events (LVE) and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) announced late last week that the New Year’s Eve celebration known as America’s Party: Las Vegas New Year 2010 will include a spectacular fireworks show fired from seven rooftop locations along the three-mile stretch of the Las Vegas Strip.
Although fireworks displays had been launched from the top of Las Vegas Strip hotels since Dec. 31, 2000, the show was launched from resort parking lots and garages last year when new Clark County fire and safety rules tightened regarding rooftop fireworks following the Monte Carlo rooftop fire in January 2008.
The lower launch point caused the fireworks display last year to not be viewable at many traditional Las Vegas vantage points.
But, despite the lower aerial displays, last year’s New Year’s Eve still drew nearly 291,000 visitors to the area, include nearly 30,000 downtown, for an nongaming economic impact of $188 million to Las Vegas, according the Las Vegas Visitors Authority.
The budget for this year’s Las Vegas show, which is funded by the state’s room tax, has reportedly increased by $50,000 to $550,000– not bad for a poor economic year with many residents out of a job.
The Las Vegas firing locations (from the south, heading north) this year include the following resort properties: MGM Grand, Planet Hollywood, Aria, Caesars Palace, Treasure Island (TI), Venetian and the Stratosphere.
Fireworks by Grucci of New York will again coordinate the pyrotechnic display.
The group recently created the spectacular Grand Opening of the Atlantis Hotel and The Palm Jumeirah in Dubai and has executed numerous presidential inaugurations and citywide celebrations.
Grucci will also do the fireworks for the $8.5 billion CityCenter grand opening planned for Dec. 16 in Las Vegas.
Michael Green, a history professor at the College of Southern Nevada, said New Year’s Eve fireworks high above the Strip have become part of the fabric of Las Vegas, commenting, “Granting that Las Vegas is still in a lot of economic hurt, the signs are pointing the right way. So maybe the fireworks will give us something to look forward to and up to.”
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