A Very Unexpected Destination Offers The Best View Of Las Vegas' Sphere
Since its founding in 1905, Las Vegas has continued to add to its appeal and reinvent itself along the way. The city, which gained international fame due to its years as a hotspot for casinos (gambling was legalized in the 1930s and spurred on by mobsters), now has more reasons to visit and even family-friendly attractions. It is less focused on "Sin City" attractions and more focused on "once-in-a-lifetime" things to do that aren't gambling, like celebrity residencies and sports. Another new once-in-a-lifetime experience in Las Vegas is Sphere.
The $2 Billion Las Vegas Sphere has significantly altered the Las Vegas skyline. The venue holds concerts and other visual spectacles, but its exterior puts on shows as well. Even a SpongeBob SquarePants projection appeared on Sphere. While some visitors enter Sphere, many choose to admire it from the outside. The Hughes Center might not be a Vegas attraction, but its parking garages are the perfect place to watch Sphere.
Interest in Hughes Center parking lots grew before the Sphere's completion
The Hughes Center is essentially an office building, but with community at the forefront of its purpose. It houses multiple businesses, which are able to tailor their workspaces to their business needs and even collaborate with other creatives. However, this is not what is bringing tourists to its parking garage. It just so happens to be located southeast of Sphere. The Hughes Center actually has four parking garages all with unobstructed views of the massive venue and its changing exterior projections.
LAZ Parking is a pay-to-park parking lot and parking management service with locations all over the United States. The company quickly took notice of an uptick in traffic at the Hughes Center. Brandon Myers, LAZ Parking's general manager, explained to Time Out that the parking garage's secret was out even before construction finished and just kept increasing. "We were getting endless lines of people offering to pay to park, just to stand on top of the garage and take a picture of the Sphere, so we just embraced it."
The Hughes Center's parking lots are not free
While the parking garages are still accessible for those who work at the Hughes Center during the day, spectators of Sphere's nighttime projections are allowed after 6 p.m. Expect to pay at least $25 to park here and watch the projections, according to Time Out. This may sound high, but even those attending shows at Sphere have been using the Hughes Center parking garages — parking at Sphere itself is nearly quadruple the cost. Hughes Center also has more parking space availability than the Sphere.
Locals are keen on getting good views of Sphere, too. "It's so over the top that even we locals can't stop looking at it," Las Vegas expert Brian 'Paco' Alvarez told CBS Sunday Morning. Its interior screen features a 16K resolution wrap-around display and the outside has around 54,000 square meters of LED display space for its projections. Whether the screen transforms Sphere into a giant emoji or an advertisement, it is truly a modern marvel.