page_title: Downtown Container Park
section_title: Operation
hierarchical_section_title: Downtown Container Park / History / Operation
caption_attribution_description: 500px provided description: Praying Mantis that breathes fire in downtown las vegas. [#fire ,#street ,#photography ,#breathe ,#prayingmantis]
context_page_description: Downtown Container Park is an outdoor shopping mall and entertainment complex located in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. The tenants are housed in metal cubes and shipping containers. The project was conceived by Tony Hsieh and his Downtown Project, a group dedicated to revitalizing the downtown area. Construction began in 2012, and the project opened on November 25, 2013, with 34 tenants. The mall includes 43 shipping containers and 41 cubes.
context_section_description: Downtown Container Park had a soft opening on November 25, 2013. A larger grand opening was held on December 5, 2013. The Container Park had 153 employees, and 34 tenants, including restaurants, bars, art shops, and clothing stores. The mall includes 43 shipping containers and 41 cubes, with a total of 38 tenant spaces, although some businesses occupy two spaces, causing a fluctuation in the number of tenants. Tenant spaces range from 170 to 800 square feet. Interior dining space is limited in each cube, necessitating the use of outdoor dining tables. The containers, stacked two and three high, were customized for the needs of each business, and were fitted with insulation and windows. In addition to cubes and shipping containers, a railroad caboose was also retrofitted for the project, to house a barbershop. The Downtown Project avoided chain stores in favor of unique tenants. To further maintain a unique shopping experience, tenants were strategically chosen by the Downtown Project in order to avoid having two businesses that offer the same products.
  The entrance is marked by a giant metal sculpture, depicting a praying mantis that spews fire from its antennae. The mantis also plays music through seven speakers. An individual operates the mantis from a small interior space. The sculpture was originally built for the annual Burning Man festival. Also located at the entrance is the Love Locket, a heart-shaped sculpture made of metal. Visitors are allowed to attach love locks to the sculpture, which was originally created for the first Life Is Beautiful festival. An outdoor stage is located on-site, and has hosted various musical performances. The playground area includes an artificial tree and treehouse made out of four shipping containers, with slides and interactive play panels.
  Because of concerns regarding alcohol, the Container Park has age restrictions to keep children out starting at 9:00 p.m., and children need to be accompanied by adults at all other times. Some customers complained of random bag searches by security guards before being allowed to enter. The searches were done to prevent outside alcohol from being brought onto the premises. The searches were largely discontinued a few weeks after the opening.
  Early revenue exceeded expectations. Within three months of its opening, the property had attracted 300,000 visitors. Among families, the playground area was particularly popular. In February 2014, the city council voted to allow minors to enter the playground unattended, as long as they could provide identification. The nearby Las Vegas Academy had requested the change, as students wanted to perform at the Container Park.
  Some tenant leases were written to last only a few months, and several businesses closed in April 2014. The Container Park's first full-service restaurant opened later that year. Five new tenants opened in April 2015. Las Vegas mayor Carolyn Goodman attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the occasion. Two months later, Goodman welcomed five more new tenants to the mall.
  At the end of 2015, some current and former tenants expressed their frustration with the Container Park, saying that they received $75 fines from the Downtown Project for various offenses. The Downtown Project defended the fines and said they were in response to violations regarding the rules of operations. Such violations included tenants not being present to operate their businesses at all times. Earlier that year, the Container Park had considered letting tenants choose their own hours of operation, but ultimately decided against the idea, stating that consistent hours for all tenants would provide a better experience for shoppers.
  Tenants also complained about a lack of foot traffic on the third floor, in part because of an elevator that would allegedly break down after rain storms. Tenants also alleged that the Downtown Project failed to adequately market the third floor. At the time, the Container Park had 32 businesses; 14 of them were original tenants from the mall's opening two years earlier. A wedding chapel 
caption: Praying mantis sculpture
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