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If you’ve visited downtown Las Vegas, you’ve probably noticed some kind of shift over the past decade. Where once few tourists or even locals set foot—except in the bright lights and cozy surroundings of the Fremont Street experience—has become a utopia for drinking, dancing, dining, and digging into the cool vibes. One street that has received a lot of attention is East Fremont. Here you will find an unforgettable night of carnival. This is thanks in part to Ryan Doherty and his company Corner Bar Management.
Boston native Doherty never intended to stay in Las Vegas. While studying hospitality management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, he decided to spend a semester in UNLV’s exchange program. It was 1996 and he has been here ever since. While completing his undergraduate studies at UNLV, he immersed himself in the Las Vegas nightlife industry.That industry brought him into the world of marketing, print and media, which led to his relationship with the late
Tony Hsieh, Zappos founder and Downtown Champion, helped Doherty’s business-oriented mindset open up opportunities for rejuvenation in once dilapidated and forgotten areas of the city. By 2012, Doherty had signed a lease to open Commonwealth, his first downtown joint venture, in East Fremont. This was followed by The Laundry Room (a speakeasy within the Commonwealth) and Park on Fremont, as well as the formation of his hotel group Corner Bar Management. “We were blown away by the romance of downtown,” Doherty said. “I was obsessed with building things. That was the main driver. I started looking at design more deeply. I wanted to keep building more spaces. I started working with better artists. When you build these venues, we start thinking, You’re breathing life into an old building, but you’re also breathing life into the community.”
Over the past few years, under the umbrella of CBM, Doherty and his team have continued to add hot spots on Fremont’s East Side, including We All Scream, Lucky Day and Discopussy bars; Cactus Restaurant; and Cheapshot, a pub-theater mix. (With the opening of the museum fiasco at AREA15, CBM has also ventured into the museum space.)
“The great thing about having all these venues on the same street is that it makes the city center more personal and more intimate to me,” he said. “A few years ago, I stopped inviting people to specific venues, now I invite them to communities…Our goal is to create gathering places for our communities that support art and spark conversations. We will continue to create new the venue to do this.”
Of all Doherty’s venues, which one is his favorite? This is his most recent opening, Cheapshot, and the accompanying variety show, Behavior Miss Mavericks“I’m really enjoying the venue right now,” he said. “Everyone always asks what my favorite venue is, and I say, ‘Whatever is next.’ But I keep coming back to (Cheapshot) because it’s so much fun watching the people on stage interact with the audience. There’s a secret to a great party, but there’s a whole different secret to getting everyone involved in the show for 90 minutes and managing a lot of personality, and variety shows are like 14 different shows throughout the night, there’s 9 different people.”
Looking back at his other establishments, for lovers of tequila and mezcal, Lucky Day loves to come back with a wide variety of spirits and creative cocktails. For lovers of house and techno music, Discopussy is a bit of a throwback to the underground rave days, with a warehouse-style space and a big dance floor to keep feet moving all night. For a blend of childhood whimsy and adult playground, We All Scream has quickly become a hotspot for ice cream and gourmet cocktails, a monster sound system and a huge second-floor balcony overlooking East Fremont events.
While drinks flow freely across all of his businesses, the guests are more than just the buzz. “The trendier the bar, the shorter the lifespan,” he said. “Tradition is important in a bar, and we want it to be around for decades. My goal is to build timeless venues that don’t feel fancy. Our spaces are essentially large-scale art projects, relying on technology, sound immersion and visual stimulation to create An environment that feels more like an art installation than a bar.”
He is right. Check out the graffiti murals we all scream, the playful art and industrial spaces of the Commonwealth, the secret garden setting of Fremont Park, the explosion of lights on the ceiling on Lucky Day, the courtyard design of the retro desert Peyote, and the vibes and circus of the sideshow Art in style, including Cheapshot.
“We went to great lengths to fill the space with art and make it very immersive,” says Doherty. “…our bar is one of my favorite galleries in the world. They’re open all night and invite everyone from all walks of life to come and experience. A lot of people who walk into our venue don’t know they’re entering a carefully curated A gallery full of contemporary art.”
Over 25 years since Doherty moved to the desert city, through his many professional incarnations and many popular venues, we end the conversation on a successful note. “There’s something special about saving an abandoned building and turning it into a workplace,” he said. “If you do this enough in the same area, you can not only restore the property, but you can start to revitalize the whole community. I hope they write the stories of the city center, at least get them to mention us, like these The guy added a layer that’s still there. I think it’s better off Fremont Street than when I found it. That’s going to be a measure of success.”
All venues over 21:
cheap stuff – 17 E. Fremont Street, St. 100. 702.239.3786
federal – 525 E Fremont Street 702.445.6400
textbook – 512 E. Fremont Street 702.754.1225
laundry room – 525 E. Fremont Street 702.291.7389
lucky day – 516 E. Fremont Street 702.291.7599
Fremont Park – 506 E. Fremont Street 725.210.0306
cactus – 1028 E. Fremont Street 725.210.0306
we all scream – 517 E. Fremont Street 702.666.0313
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