Westgate Las Vegas has emerged victorious in its legal case against Exhibit A Circle LLC. The entire situation blew up earlier this year after an ill-fated Elvis Presley attraction at the resort closed within a month of opening. A federal arbitrator ruled in favour of Westgate, and now Exhibit A Circle LLC must pay the resort $2.25 million in damages.
Westgate Wins Fight with Exhibit A Circle LLC
The federal arbitrator decided that Exhibit A Circle, who had signed a deal with Westgate Resort to run the Elvis Presley exhibits, had violated the 10-year lease it had signed with the resort. Exhibit A Circle was tasked with running “The Elvis Experience”, which was a live stage show, as well as an exhibition of Elvis memorabilia. The live show was canceled back in May 2015, while the exhibition closed its doors in February 2016.
Exhibit A Circle claimed that the closures were due to poor attendance numbers. Westgate put significant effort into increasing visitor numbers and even went so far as to get Las Vegas to rename the street that links Westgate to the strip. The street was originally called Riviera Boulevard and was renamed to Elvis Presley Way.
Westgate Now Faces Elvis Presley Enterprises
Thanks to the decision by the arbitrator, Westgate’s legal team can now focus on Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE). EPE had loaned out many of the artifacts that were being used in the exhibit. When Exhibit A Circle left, Westgate locked the Elvis articles away. The curator wants them returned and claims the hotel is holding them hostage. Westgate, on the other hand, says that it spent around $9 million to renovate the spaces required for the exhibits and will gladly return the artifacts once this debt is settled. Because EPE loaned the items to Exhibit A Circle, Westgate believes that it must share responsibility for the fiasco.
Some of the Elvis relics being held at Westgate include his Harley Davidson motorcycle, clothing, and jewellery. As well as his high school yearbooks, and a 1962 Lincoln Continental motor vehicle. There was also his private jet that went up for sale some time ago.
