Las Vegas a UNESCO World Heritage Site?
If I really cared, I would propose Las Vegas as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Las Vegas meets at least 3 requirements one of which is: “represent a masterpiece of human creative genius”.
How About the Sphere?
It has been called an “engineering marvel of the world”. It has the highest resolution LED screen on earth and the world’s largest interior and exterior wraparound LED displays. Beamforming technology is employed. At 336 feet tall and 516 feet wide, the venue is believed to be the largest spherical structure in the world, outdoing such globes as Epcot Center’s Spaceship Earth, Montreal’s Biosphere and Stockholm’s Avicii Arena. It shows a half-petabyte movie — that’s 500,000 gigabytes. I’ve never even heard of a petabyte before.
“Permanent Impact”
What printed matter, of record or not, would appeal to the elite besides the New York Times? Ah, yes, here it is: Architectural Digest. This is what it says about the Sphere. I’ll give you a hint, it’s all good, in fact, the Sphere “is destined to make a permanent impact on the local and global entertainment landscape.” Wow. Words like “permanent impact” and “global landscape” somehow suggest that this might represent a “masterpiece of human creative genius”. But, hey, I will leave it up to my betters to decide what is worth my time and what is not.
39 Million People Head to Vegas
Other requirements are: “the important interchange of human values, over a span of time” and “bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a civilization which is living“.
Almost 39 million people visited Vegas in 2022. That’s more than 3 million a month. Hello UNESCO, is there an “important interchange of human values” occurring here? Millions and millions of people are coming together every year for decades and the number is increasing. There is no other place like it on earth. It is unique and cannot be replicated anywhere else. Does not the very fact that millions come to Vegas every year “bear exceptional testimony to a civilization which is living.”
“Masterpieces of Monumental Architecture”
Another requirement: developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;
Britannica Encyclopedia describes the casinos and hotels of Las Vegas as “masterpieces of monumental architecture.” Caesar’s Palace is described as an “oval architectural marvel”. In addition to being masterpieces in their own right, the Bellagio Hotel exhibits art by Van Gogh, Matisse and Picasso to name a few. Luciano Pavarotti performed at the Mandalay Bay Resort. Art from the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia was exhibited at the Rio Casino.
Feral Flower
Las Vegas began as a watering hole for weary travelers in the desert. Because of laissez-faire policy by local and state governments, maybe a little criminality here and there (okay a whole lot sometimes), human beings gave vent to their heady desires, half-baked dreams and heart-felt creativity. Because of this freedom, government coffers filled to the brim and Las Vegas blossomed like some wild, feral flower the scent of which will beckon pleasure-seekers and entertainment addicts far into the future. In fact, this is where “cutting edge” and “state of the art” live.
This little watering hole is not static, it’s dynamic, always changing, forever evolving. 200,000 people watched the demolition of The Dunes, an old revered Vegas hotel. It had to go to make room for the new. It’s destruction was a show.
Neon Bones
Maybe UNESCO dignitaries are upset with the Vegans because they are not sentimental and do not venerate history. Well, no. Actually, they do. There is a whole group of people that belong to https://nevadapreservation.org/ who carefully preserve the Las Vegan past. You can take tours of old Las Vegas with https://homeandhistorylv.com/upcoming-events. Not only buildings have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places but there are more than 30 museums in Las Vegas. You can find everything from The Mob Museum to the Neon Boneyard Museum.
Inner Brat
My dearest UNESCO luminaries, please go to Vegas and see for yourself. Although, I think the Axehole Vegas where you can drink beer and throw axes or the Downtown Container Park that is guarded by a giant fire-breathing Praying Mantis at the entrance and where you can climb up to a huge treehouse and again, drink alcohol, let out your inner brat and barrel down twisting slides might be a little too rich for your blood.
The spirit of this unusual place is what our “inner child” (and outer adult) is all about: having fun. And where axeholes do not sit in judgement with their requirements.
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