This is a timely question, as it appears that you’re not the only one who’s noticed the scaffolding coming down -- the sole reason that crane you saw was on-site.
We’ve covered the protracted, and likely doomed, story of Skyvue since its inception, including a major feature in this column (see QoD 11/26/13). In this town built on hyperbole ("biggest gift shop," "coldest beer," "smallest video poker bar" -- you name it), Skyvue has at least excelled in the realm of bombastic self-promotion and over-the-top graphics. Still, with an obvious massive shortfall money-wise, not to mention some stiff competition up the street from The Linq’s High Roller observation wheel, which has the distinction of actually existing, right now Skyvue seems destined to join the ranks of those other multiple pie-(or should that be wheel?)-in-the-sky grand designs that emanated from the direction of Voyager Entertainment International and amounted to nothing more than a succession of equally extravagant artist’s renditions of a futuristic-looking dream that failed to materialize on sites adjacent to the Sahara, Rio, Westward Ho, and New Frontier. As the R-J’s Howard Stutz put it with regard to Skyvue early last year, alluding to the nearby Laughing Jackalope motel, "Both the development and the Jackalope are mythical creatures ... Without money to complete the project, all you have are pretty pictures."
Skyvue has been plagued with financial problems from the outset, failing even to pay Nevada prison inmates who worked on the project, and we really can’t see how the Strip could possibly accommodate two massive observation wheels. It would seem the only advantage that developer Howard Bulloch had was a great location with what would probably have been better views, but he couldn’t compete with a giant like Caesars Entertainment and he seems to have been carried away by his vision, despite numerous indications that his optimism -- like his wheel -- was built on sand.
Still, Bulloch and his brigade have remained relentlessly optimistic throughout (perhaps putting undue stock in the power of positive thinking) and, according to coverage by Vegas Inc. earlier this week, the scaffolding is coming down not because Skyvue is kaput, but because it’s "not needed at this time." Explained a member of the development team, "We continue to work on Skyvue," although he went on to add that "we have no news to report at this time." While, in the mind of Bulloch and his team, no doubt the rallying cry is that no news is good news, we can't help but take a more cynical view and let's just say we’re not holding our breath.
Check out the Vegas Inc. piece for a slideshow of the recent developments with that crane and that scaffolding.
