Formula 1 to change building name to avoid 1 October shooter affiliation

The construction site where Formula One is building a four-story, 300,000-square-foot paddock building is seen, on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, in Las Vegas. The building structure is constructed at the center of 39 acres on the northeast corner of Harmon Avenue and Koval Lane and will feature elevations of between 54 feet and 74 feet in height. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @btesfaye

A construction site where Formula One is building a paddock building is seen near Harmon Avenue and Koval Lane on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, in Las Vegas. (Madeline Carter/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

The Las Vegas Grand Prix is looking to change the name of one of its buildings to avoid affiliation with the man behind the Oct. 1 mass shooting, officials said Tuesday.

Formula One representative Stephanie Allen said race officials had recently been told of the correlation of the use of the word “paddock” on their building site with the name Stephen Paddock, the gunman who perpetrated the worst mass shooting in U.S. history during the Las Vegas Route 91 Harvest Festival on Oct. 1, 2017.

Allen said paddock is a word used globally to describe the building that houses drivers’ garages, but told Clark County Commissioners that officials were looking at changing the name out of sensitivity to the community.

Once completed, the building will span 300,000 square feet over four levels at the corner of Harmon Avenue and Koval Lane and will serve as a hub during November’s Las Vegas Grand Prix race.

Two days of testing, Nov. 16 and 17, will precede the 10 p.m. Nov. 18 race.

Contact Taylor R. Avery at TAvery@reviewjournal.com. Follow @travery98 on X.