New courthouse draws praises

Steve Sebelius

Thursday, Oct. 31, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Years after hopes for a downtown high-rise collapsed into the "Minami hole," city and federal officials unveiled the model for a new federal courthouse that will grace the skyline by the year 2000.

The new 407,000-square-foot courthouse will be the anchor of the downtown "legal corridor," as well as ongoing efforts to spruce up urban Las Vegas.

"I think that this building will have a stabilizing influence on the city of Las Vegas," said Chief U.S. District Court Judge Lloyd George. "There was a time when the courthouse was the center of the community. We hope to restore that position of dignity."

The building -- which will be about 15 stories high but only eight floors because of the high ceilings used in federal courthouses -- is people-friendly, said Mehrdad Yazdani, the architect who designed the building.

A public plaza sits next to the structure, and the building's face is open to the rest of downtown under a huge canopy. Visitors are welcomed by a ceremonial staircase and a three-story rotunda, he said.

"It helps to define grand public space," Yazdani said. "It creates an inviting and democratic structure."

The building's face will be made of stone, precast concrete and aluminum panels. General Services Administration official Richard Welsh confirmed that solar power would be used in the new courthouse.

U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., said the courthouse will help judges in the nation's third busiest judicial district deal with their crushing caseload.

"This is not just something for the convenience of the judges," Bryan said. "Ultimately, this is about justice."

Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones said the building is good for the city for another reason, as well: "It tells you something: Downtown's not dying," she said.

Retiring U.S. Rep. Barbara Vucanovich, R-Nev., agreed, saying the new courthouse is a "wonderful last achievement" in her congressional career.

"This new courthouse is just critical if we're going to keep up with the growing needs of our community," she said.

George said the six regular courtrooms, six magistrate judge courtrooms and office space for the U.S. attorney and congressional representatives should be enough to serve the area for 30 years, despite the fact that Las Vegas is the nation's third busiest judicial district.

George said a jury assembly room could also be used for art exhibits and lunchtime lectures, drawing more people to the courthouse as a civic anchor.

"People will gravitate to this area and think of it as their own," George said. The current Foley federal building will continue to be used for bankruptcy court judges.

Another federal courthouse recently opened its doors in Reno, positioned across the street from Reno's City Hall in the redevelopment area of the northern Nevada city.

U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Congress has already appropriated $84.7 million for the new courthouse, but still needs to add about $12 million to the budget. The extra cash will be approved next session, said Reid, who was instrumental on the Senate Appropriations Committee in getting the building approved.

If the building's plans are stately, the history of the site is not. The plot between Las Vegas Boulevard, Sixth Street and Bridger and Clark avenues was originally targeted by Japanese billionaire Masao Nangaku for a 35-story skyscraper dubbed the "Minami Tower."

But Nangaku lost his financing for the job after only excavating the site, which quickly became dubbed the "Minami hole."

The failure of the project actually brought good news for the city, which acquired the land for free in 1991 after Nangaku defaulted. Money spent on environmental cleanup was later reimbursed by the state.

After Minami, California developer The Koll Real Estate Group announced plans for twin 10-story towers on the site, a 470,000-square-foot project called City Centre that also included a garden plaza, sidewalk cafes and fountains.

But The Koll group project was scaled back and eventually abandoned in 1994 when it couldn't sign tenants for the buildings.

As the federal courthouse idea came back into vogue, Jones battled with members of the City Council who said the city should get some tax revenue from the land or create a temporary park there. Jones favored giving the land to the government for nothing, and said Wednesday the project would not have come off without the offer.

"I knew that long range, (getting the courthouse downtown) was the only way to build a downtown that we could all be proud of," Jones said. "My next goal is to get it built."

Groundbreaking for the courthouse will be in June, and it is scheduled to be completed in spring of the year 2000.