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40 Las Vegas is adding an<br />
eye-catching tourist attraction,<br />
in the form of<br />
a huge wheel that can<br />
take more than 1,000<br />
people on a ride 550<br />
feet into the sky over the<br />
city’s famed Strip. The<br />
main construction of the wheel,<br />
called the High Roller, is nearly<br />
finished; it is expected to open<br />
in early <strong>20</strong>14.<br />
“The High Roller will be 100 feet<br />
taller than the London Eye, which<br />
opened in <strong>20</strong>00, 30 feet taller than<br />
China’s Star of Nanchang, which<br />
opened in <strong>20</strong>06, and 9 feet taller than<br />
the Singapore Flyer, which opened in<br />
<strong>20</strong>08,” The Associated Press reports.<br />
At that size, it would take the High<br />
Roller wheel about 30 minutes to<br />
take its passengers on one full revolution.<br />
The wheel will have 28 cabins,<br />
similar to a capsule in a sky tram or<br />
gondola, with a maximum occupancy<br />
of 40 people. Each cabin will include<br />
300 square feet of glass.<br />
The wheel is being built by Caesars<br />
Entertainment Corp. as the centerpiece<br />
of a huge new development<br />
called The Linq. The company prefers<br />
to call the coming attraction an<br />
observation wheel, rather than a<br />
Ferris wheel.<br />
“It’s going to be an icon,” Project Director<br />
David Codiga tells the AP. “It’s<br />
going to be a part of your visit to Las<br />
Vegas if you ride it or not. It’s more<br />
or less impossible not to see it if you<br />
come here.”<br />
Over the past few months, the<br />
wheel’s ring has taken shape and<br />
spokes have been added to it; an<br />
outer ring was hoisted into position<br />
Monday, NBC reports. Before<br />
it opens next year, builders will add<br />
the cabins and more than 1,000 LED<br />
lights.<br />
Caesars says the development,<br />
which is between the Quad and<br />
Flamingo casinos, is aimed at “the<br />
region’s growing Gen X and Gen Y<br />
clientele — ages 21 to 46 — whose<br />
market share is estimated to grow<br />
to 52 percent of Las Vegas visitor<br />
spending by <strong>20</strong>15.”<br />
As local TV channel 8 News Now<br />
reported last year, another big wheel<br />
could give the High Roller some<br />
competition; the builders of that<br />
wheel, called the Skyvue, say it will<br />
stand at 500 feet.<br />
But that project seems to have<br />
stalled, after two massive support<br />
columns were put into place. Earlier<br />
this year, the Vegas Chatter website<br />
declared, “SkyVue Asleep At The<br />
Observation Wheel
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