Fremont Street was closed permanently to vehicular traffic in September, 1994 as part of the plan to regenerate the downtown area. On December 14, 1995 the Fremont Street Experience Light and Sound show debuted, financed by a group of ten downtown hotel-casinos, eager to give their locale a new draw.
With an original price tag of $900,000, the canopy is 90 ft (27 m) high at the peak and four blocks, or approximately 1,500 ft (460 m), in length. It's supported by 16 columns, each weighing 26,000 pounds, and 43,000 struts. When it debuted, it featured approximately 2.1 million lightbulbs controlled by 32 computers. Six years later, the original 350,000-watt sound system was upgraded ot 550,000 watts.
Four years on, the Fremont Street Experience received a $17 million upgrade. The new canopy features 12.5 million LED (light-emitting diode) lamps, which are more robust than traditional bulbs and have a lower energy consumption and longer lifetime. The number of machines required to control it has been reduced to 10 and the new canopy displays images in high definition, thanks to the configuration of the LEDs.
The new display premiered on June 14, 2004 and has been presented nightly ever since. The current show schedule includes American Pie, A Tribute to Queen, KISS Over Vegas, Lucky Vegas, Fahrenheit, and Bad to the Bone. You can click here for the full list, with times. The regular schedule is punctuated throughout the year by seasonal displays and limited-run/one-offs for special events, like the recent "Summer of '69" festivities.
