Clark County has earmarked $10 million to help Insomniac, the promoter behind the annual Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC), renovate the former Sahara Event Center just east of the Las Vegas Strip.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Clark County’s Redevelopment Agency set aside the funds toward a massive overhaul of the venue as part of its broader mission to breathe new life into the surrounding Commercial Center. Insomniac pledges to invest $20 million of its own.

“It’s going to enable Insomniac to complete their purchase and then invest $20 million to renovate it and rehab it, make it a current event center,” Commissioner Tick Segerblom told FOX5 Vegas. “It’s going to be very exciting.”

This latest real estate venture deepens Insomniac’s already extensive Vegas footprint. Ever since its flagship EDC relocated from Southern California in 2011, the electronic dance music promoter has fostered ties with local resorts and mega-clubs, turning the days preceding the festival into “EDC Week” with high-profile takeovers at venues such as Hakkasan, Omnia at Caesars Palace, and the Marquee Nightclub.

The upcoming 2027 edition of EDC Las Vegas is scheduled for May 4-16 and May 21-23 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, marking the first time the festival stretches across two consecutive weekends.

The Sahara Event Center is the most historically significant surviving rock music venue in Las Vegas—having hosted shows by Led Zeppelin, the Grateful Dead, and even Bob Marley.

What’s strange about this designation is that the venue—located at 800 Liberace Ave. (formerly E. Karen Ave.) in the Commercial Center—was an ice rink at the time. It was built in the 1960s to showcase the Ice Capades and a semi-pro hockey team called the Las Vegas Gamblers. However, for touring rock music acts with sizeable followings who—for various reasons including their youth appeal and drug associations—were unwanted by casino showrooms or the biggest venue in town, the Las Vegas Convention Center, it was the only show in town.

Promoters at the time converted the Ice Palace into a concert hall by placing plywood over the ice, then squeezing as many freezing kids inside as the fire code permitted.