At a special Las Vegas tourism infrastructure meeting yesterday intended to "narrow the field" of prospective football stadium sites, the "list of potential locations instead grew," according to a front-page piece by Richard Velotta of the LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL. The project’s estimated cost "increased as well," to as much as $2.1B, which "could lead to the creation of an expanded special tax improvement district to pay for the dome." Reps of a private-public partnership headed by Las Vegas Sands, Majestic Realty and the Raiders "introduced three new potential sites for a domed stadium in addition to six that already have been in play" at the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee meeting. A Sands rep said that there "could soon be a 10th site in play." The cost of the project could go "up substantially if developers switch to a site that isn’t controlled by UNLV, which hopes to use the stadium for its football program and prefers a site close to campus." The developers also "confirmed that they are eyeing a retractable roof for the 65,000-seat stadium." That "could add" an estimated $50M to the cost (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 7/12). SNTIC Chair Steve Hill said that he "planned to ask Gov. Brian Sandoval for a two-month extension of the group's deadline to finalize its recommendations." In Las Vegas, J.D. Morris noted the committee's original deadline, set by an executive order from Sandoval, "was the end of this month" (LASVEGASSUN.com, 7/11).
