(Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images for Heineken)
A cryptic statement issued Wednesday by Clark County confirming the Las Vegas Grand Prix will return, was the result of “media outlets asking if the race was not going to occur because of recent comments in the news,” according to county spokeswoman Jennifer Cooper.
Commission Chairman Tick Segerblom acknowledged last month during an interview that the county has a three-year agreement with Formula 1 and an option for seven more years, but noted the county has leverage to address issues of concern.
“We have a deal, but it has to be renewed every year,” Segerblom said in January to television host Sam Shad. “There’s a three-year commitment, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. A special-use permit still has to come back to us.”
“We never committed to three years, to my knowledge,” Segerblom subsequently told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
On Thursday, Segerblom acknowledged the county agreed last year to provide F1 with the use of public right-of-way for three years. “I apologize,” he told the Current during an interview. “I was wrong about that.”
Segerblom says the county still has to issue a special use permit to the race and can use it to leverage improvements to benefit the community.
Preparations for the inaugural three-day event in November disrupted traffic for months, and the construction of a bridge on Flamingo near the Strip sparked protests from nearby business owners who blamed the bridge for customers bypassing their establishments.
The bridge remained intact until shortly before Super Bowl Sunday, prompting more complaints from business owners who contend they were still suffering the effects, according to public relations consultant Lisa Mayo De Riso, who is leading a charge to get compensation for the businesses.
“The F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix race will move forward as planned this year November 21 -23, and in the coming years reflective of the Board’s action to reserve and authorize use of the public right of way for the next three years,” said the county’s statement, issued the day after the commission was to discuss the future of F1. At the last minute, the county removed the item from the agenda without explanation, except to say County Manager Kevin Schiller is preparing a debrief on the race, along with recommendations to “support F1 and other future large-scale events to the benefit of our community.”
County spokeswoman Cooper says the removal of the F1 discussion from Tuesday’s agenda and the statement issued Wednesday “are two separate things. The item on the agenda on Tuesday was postponed for the County Manager’s public debrief which will occur in the coming weeks,” she said, while the statement Wednesday was to quell rumors of the race’s demise.
Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our website. AP and Getty images may not be republished. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of any other photos and graphics.
