For deals, curiosity or charity, seize the chance to get inside

Pssst. Hey, friend. Wanna get inside the World Market Center buildings?

You know, the massive buildings near the Spaghetti Bowl with few windows. Buildings that are imposing and distinctive with geometric designs, sort of like Darth Vader's mask.

Not everyone likes their look, but I am a huge fan. They stand there dominating the landscape, looking mysterious, hiding their secrets, keeping me out. But the first 10-story building, which opened in the summer of 2005, has a happy smile on it that makes me laugh, sending this mixed message: Welcome, but don't even think we're letting you in.

If they were government buildings, they would be perfect for the CIA.

Normally, these buildings are closed to the public.

Twice a year, summer and winter, when they are chock- full of the latest in home furnishings, they became the home of a huge trade show, but that's only open to the participants, not the curious.

The rest of the year, there are two floors of showrooms open to people accompanied by interior decorators. Those two floors are the Las Vegas Design Center.

On Nov. 16 and Nov. 17, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., you don't need to be with a decorator to go inside the design center showrooms.

For only the second time, the two existing buildings will be open to anyone willing to pay $10, money that goes to local charities. And it's not just an opportunity to look. You can buy.

Or, if you're interested in architecture, you can gawk at architect Jon Jerde's work inside and out. The guy who designed the Fremont Street Experience, the exterior of the Treasure Island and the theme for the Bellagio is the same one who did the World Market Center. When finished in 2012, there will be eight buildings with 12 million square feet, making it the world's largest trade show.

Co-owner Shawn Samson likes to call the buildings "cathedrals of commerce" but I see them as a sophisticated take on eight kid's building blocks carefully positioned in a horizontal line. If you ever want to feel small, park and look up at the World Market Center from the ground. Suddenly, you're an ant.

Andrew Maiden, public relations manager for the center, said the first time the design center floors opened to the public, in June, more than 7,000 people attended the first Pre-Market Inventory Clearance Sale. About 70 showrooms participated, offering deep discounts on designer home furnishings, accessories, lamps, area rugs and other items. Three local charities received $67,570 from the entrance fees.

This time, he expects more than 80 Las Vegas Design Center showrooms to participate. The beneficiaries will be Nevada AIDS Project, Habitat for Humanity Las Vegas and Opportunity Village.

A little access tip: The center is at 495 S. Grand Central Parkway, and because of a road construction project, the current access is through Discovery Drive off Martin Luther King Boulevard. Maiden said the city will have the access from Alta Drive open for the public sale days.

This is Vegas, home of sleazy scammers, so personal checks won't be accepted. Cash or credit card only. But if you buy something big, they've arranged to have it delivered for you (for a fee).

But for me, it's the buildings themselves that intrigue. I keep thinking of them as the perfect site of a murder mystery. Minuscule man or woman chased or chasing in a setting of secrets. Does it get any better? Ah, but whom do I want to whack? And why?

So far, Maiden said, there hasn't been any filming there, but it seems like such a natural. Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks so, because Maiden said the Nevada Film Commission recently established contact with him for potential future shoots. "It could be on the radar in the future," Maiden said.

As soon as he said "radar," I started thinking of how the buildings could be used in a futuristic space show.

Something about those buildings drives my imagination and makes me want to go inside.

Perhaps that's what great architecture is all about, whether it's the pyramids or geodesic domes or the World Market Center.

Or maybe it's the sale within that draws us in.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275.