Rebuilding Vintage Vegas

CBS will be premiering its new tv series “Vegas” on September 25 10/9c. The series is set in 1960 Nevada, with the focus on the most infamous gambling city in history. Now, since much of the original Freemont Street has been redeveloped, the daunting task was to reconstruct the famous landmark to make the timeline for the premiere airing.

Architecture in the 1960s reflected modern minimalist aesthetics and interiors, which primarily used the following materials: brick, concrete block and poured concrete. So most likely, the workforce who constructed the “Vegas” set had to have used top-of-the-line diamond tools such as diamond blades, wood blades, core bit drills, etc. to finish the set in the seven-week period allotted for construction.

“Vegas” costs $3 million to $3.5 million an episode to produce, employs 150 crewmembers and has 75 carpenters, painters and electricians hired to erect the sets. One of the features of the set is a 170-foot block facade of Fremont Street as it appeared in 1960, with an assortment of Western-style casinos, a pawnshop and a bingo hall.

A 15,000-square-foot fictional casino called the Savoy, was also built and equipped with vintage slot machines, Sputnik chandeliers, period roulette tables and a large awning that opens to the Fremont Street set.

There are 12-foot-tall buildings on the set, which were designed so that visual-effects technicians could create digital extensions, so that they appear taller than the actual sets. To further enhance realism in the visual effects, giant green screens were also installed at each end of the street, so that technicians could digitally extend it for a longer view.

Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis star in this drama inspired by the true story of former Las Vegas Sheriff Ralph Lamb, a fourth-generation rancher tasked with bringing order to Las Vegas in the 1960s, a gambling and entertainment mecca emerging from the tumbleweeds. Ralph Lamb wants to be left in peace to run his ranch, but Las Vegas is now swelling with outsiders and corruption, which are intruding on his simple life. Catch “Vegas,” the new and exciting CBS series premiering on September 25.