Quoted from timarnold:The thinking on the signs changed when the property to the South was sold to a LARGE casino project. The original design was less bold and changed color like a jukebox. We figured that when the new Hotel is built, there will be very limited visibility when driving up the Strip, so we needed a simple sign that would be easy to see and hard to miss while costing less on the BUILDING, while the sign out on the road grew in size and price.
I spend a lot of time driving around Vegas on service calls and errands, and I see a lot of BAD signs. Fancy flowing script, strange proportions, too many words. Our only goal on the new design was to leave no doubt what was inside the building as you grasped a quick glance driving up the Strip. The Faux neon tubing was installed this week and will be illuminated at night as soon as the electrical contractor finishes a rework on a breaker panel.
As far as our charitable contributions, yes, we have cut back to almost nothing to get a world class facility we and the pinball community can be proud of. Many people claim to be CAPITALISTS, but are scared to death of CAPITAL. We took a DEEP plunge and went for it, knowing a simple fact. That the end of this project, ALL and more of the money we spent on this magnificent building will be returned 100 percent or more to our charitable partners. Very seldom does real estate go DOWN in price. It would be even less likely to drop on the Strip, where there are only 35 owners of property all the way from Sahara to the Famous Sign. More than half is owner by one of 2 major casino companies. I am amazed daily by the fact that this little bumble-fuck backwards armature pinball club somehow landed on some of the most productive real estate on the face of the Earth.
As far as the estimations of what this whole project was going to cost, it was very close to what we figured at the beginning. The Land was paid for first, the out-the-door price was 4,567,500. We signed a CONTRACT with a builder for a set-price of 4,100,000. There was NO clauses for price increases. There were several CHANGE ORDERS. These were mostly involving Public Works, a pesky drainage issue, and fixture changes. The contract did not include professional fees, taxes, permits, and quality control-testing. Take it all home, park it in the garage for a nice round 10 million. The final number will be very close to this amount.
Where the problem arose with Covid was on the income side. We were CLOSED for 12 weeks. NO income at all. Then there was a slow and still happening ramp up to today where things are approaching what we were doing at the old spot on Trop. We DID come very close to running out of CASH ON HAND to pay bills. This happened a LOT during Covid to many businesses. I could have solved the whole problem by reaching into my pocket for MORE of my own money, but it was pointed out by other members of our board and outside advisors that it shouldn't ONLY being about Tim making things happen. There were and are still many in the pinhead community that wanted to help. And they did. And I thanks them again
Yes, this DOES represent us selling a bit of our credibility, karma, customer goodwill, or what ever you want to call it. But please keep in mind that all contributions were 100 percent VOLUNTARY. Those who could not afford or didn't like this project were free to NOT help.
Traffic has been very good considering the impact of the Pandemic, which is just now starting to lift. Going forward, we are looking for better results as the whole entertainment sector improves, lifting all boats. The backlog of broken games is shrinking daily, as less time is being spent on construction related matters.
All remaining Covid-restrictions will be lifted June 1st EXCEPT wearing a mask, which we will continue to enforce until the Gov says to stop.
Tony is busy building a custom topped for the next Stern game, Baby Yoda fighting a Baby Shark in a miniature shark tank.
