LAS VEGAS (AP) – Imagine a white sand beach with a bar at the dock. Water skiers flash by a small island, where fireworks shoot from twin peaks. Now imagine this water paradise is in the desert of drought-stricken Nevada.
Casino magnate Steve Wynn can, though not everyone shares the vision of the man who brought dancing water fountains, pirate sea battles and an exploding volcano to adorn his previous Las Vegas gambling resorts. The plan is still in the design phase and hasn’t received final approval.
The Paradise Park development proposal unveiled by Wynn Resorts in April would be anchored by a 38-acre, man-made lake built where golfers now tee up on an 18-hole course. Wynn, the company’s CEO, said the park would be an amenity paid for by the resorts fee on hotel rooms at his Wynn and Encore properties, as well as a new 1,000-room hotel tower. Others would pay a $20 to $30 entrance fee to enjoy the festive “lunacy.”
At the size of nearly 100 Olympic swimming pools, the lake is billed as a more conservative use of water for the resort.
“Paradise Park is … taking advantage of imagination and fantasy on property that we own for zero (dollars), with water rights that we own for zero – and we’re the only ones that have them at this size,” Wynn said on a May 5 earnings call. “And we’re going to do it with solar power, and we’re going to use less water than a golf course, so we’re going to be very green at the same time.”