Here’s the “bubble drawing,” roughed out by Jim Murren and MGM Mirage Design Group head Bill Smith back in February 2004, the tiny acorn from which CityCenter sprouted. Our thanks to MGM Mirage for sharing it with us. It will also be featured in a forthcoming Question of the Day over who deserves the credit for conceiving CityCenter. There’s a brewing controversy over the prevalent narrative (that it was Murren’s baby), with Roger Gros and perhaps a few others insisting that then-CEO J. Terrence Lanni was the proud papa. Both sides of the dispute will be aired shortly. Stay tuned.
Haven’t seen City Center yet, but from what I’ve read, it’s too bad they didn’t stick more to this concept with such a large park. That would have been something truly special and different…
briguyx – I was thinking the exact same thing. After walking through City Center last month I couldn’t help but think a large park area or even just a “great lawn”-type space would have really added some energy to the place. It’s a shame really, as there’s no where to add it now.
Thanks for sharing this diagram with us Mr. McKee. I am actually kind of surprised that MGM Mirage shared this diagram with you. I remember a couple of years ago they were giving Mark Adams at http://www.vegastodayandtomorrow.com a hard time about putting information up about City Center on his excellent website.
Add me to the list of people who like this big park idea more that what we got.
Just to add, didn’t Steve Wynn once talk about a large central park surrouded by a convention center for the golf course land. If so, whose idea for this park was it first, Wynn or Murren? I think Wynn mentioned it sometime in 2006 or 2007 from what I recall.
I think the parentage issue won’t be settled for about 3 years. If it is a success by then, Jim Murren is the father, if it is labeled a failure, then Terry Lanni is the baby-daddy.
I think the question about the conception of City Center will be “Who badly misjudged what Vegas needs?”
Phil, Murren’s park would have been first, since it was drawn up in February ’04, more than a year before Wynn Las Vegas even opened. However, given that Las Vegas has one of the worst population-to-parks ratios in the country, perhaps Wynn’s idea of a quasi-Central Park ought to be encouraged.
P.S.: The irony of Gros’ contention in favor of Lanni, as articulated in the Casino Connection blog, is that its crux is (and I paraphrase): “If CityCenter had been Jim Murren’s idea, Terry Lanni would have given him credit. That’s the kind of guy he is.”
We’re talking, of course, about the same J. Terrence Lanni who basically became a non-person after his *curriculum vitae* was discovered to contain some mighty big fibs (like a nonexistent post-grad degree from USC). If you’re making the argument for Lanni as “baby-daddy” of CityCenter, resting your case upon Lanni’s forthrightness isn’t likely to sway the jury in your favor.