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The Fremont Street Experience (FSE) is a pedestrian mall and attraction in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada The FSE occupies the westernmost 5 blocks of Fremont Street and portions of some other adjacent streets

The FSE was conceived in the 1990s as a way to draw more people to the ailing downtown gambling area The FSE is a cooperative venture, owned and operated by a group of ten downtown hotel/casino companies as a separate corporation, with the ongoing involvement of the city since the FSE is considered a city park

The attraction is a barrel vault canopy, 90 feet high at the peak, that covers four blocks or approximately 1,500 feet It was the first Las Vegas project of architect Jon Jerde, who went on to design the facade of Treasure Island, the Bellagio, and other projects on the Las Vegas Strip The underside of the canopy is covered with an LED display, referred to as "Viva Vision" and built by the LG Corporation, programmed to show periodic sound-and-light presentations after dark

While Las Vegas is known for never turning the outside casino lights off, each show begins by turning off the lights on all of the building, including the casinos, under the canopy Before each show, the streets that still cross the experience are blocked off for safety reasons

Concerts, usually free, are held on two stages

In 1994 Fremont street was closed and the ground breaking for the project was held On December 14, 1995, the official opening of the light show was held

In November, 1996 ihe Neon Museum at the Fremont Street Experience was opened The museum features signs from old casinos and other business's displayed outdoors

On June 14, 2004 an $17 million upgrade was unveiled

The initial display contained about 19 billion lightbulbs controlled by 32 computers located in kiosks on the mall The sound system, using speakers suspended over the mall was rated at a mind-blowing 350,000 watts Strobe lights were added at some point to provide additional entertainment options on Disco Nights

Displaying images that looked "real" took some innovation

The 2001 upgrade to the sound system raised the power to an awesome 550,000 watts

The 2004 features an upgraded 125 million LED display and more color combinations then the original display The old control system was replaced by a central control room using 10 computers

The Fremont Street Experience casino/hotel companies are:

Binion's Gambling Hall & Hotel
Boyd Gaming Corporation:
Fremont Hotel and Casino
California Hotel and Casino
Main Street Station
Fitzgerald's Casino Hotel
Four Queens Hotel & Casino
Golden Gate Hotel and Casino
Golden Nugget Las Vegas
Las Vegas Club Hotel & Casino
Lady Luck Hotel Casino