Photo credit: Harold Litwiler from Orcutt/Istanbul, USA, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that the Las Vegas Sphere has agreed to reduce its exterior sound volume to appease neighbors living in a nearby high-rise building. The Sphere recently added external speakers to accompany the light shows on its external surface. Reporter John Kasilometes said that the Sphere and nearby residents reached an agreement allowing the attraction to exceed county sound limits on certain days, for certain hours.
I think local authorities made a poor decision to allow the Sphere to exceed county noise limits. When the new sound system was used on the Fourth of July, the dine was so loud that the nearby apartment building reportedly shook. That has to be incredibly loud. Now, sound will be capped at 85 decibels (dB), which should attenuate to 40 dB at the property line.
If people want to go to a noisy venue, that’s their choice. But people living nearby shouldn’t be exposed to noise pollution. Noise is a public health hazard and nighttime noise disrupts sleep. I don’t understand why, even in a city that bills itself as “the entertainment capital of the world,” noise pollution is necessary. After all, the giant Sphere, with its garish exterior light displays, wouldn’t appear to need sound to advertise its presence to passersby. To its credit, the Sphere does appear to be making a good faith attempt to reduce the sound levels. For example, a high-ranking executive gave his cell phone number to the building’s manager and its board if they need to reach out.
Despite the agreement, residents of the nearby building will make public remarks at a forthcoming hearing. We will try to learn what they have to say.
