Marathon session looks for new downtown ideas

Steve Sebelius

Thursday, Jan. 30, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

They aren't professionals, at least not yet, but about 100 UNLV students and teachers are aiming to do in 2 1/2 days what usually takes the pros months: Design a downtown.

For the second year in a row, students will come together in a marathon session called a "charette," plotting over downtown maps what should go where, and why.

Las Vegas officials took to heart some of the suggestions from last year's charette, planning a "justice corridor" and a neon museum downtown. The new federal courthouse, an anchor of the justice corridor, was unveiled in October, and the first exhibit of the neon museum was lit up on Las Vegas Boulevard in November.

This year, said charette coordinator Arnie Stalk, the students will focus on two areas: Fremont Street, from Las Vegas Boulevard east to Eastern Avenue, and a chunk of downtown bordered by Bonneville Avenue on the north, Charleston Boulevard on the south, Las Vegas Boulevard on the east and Main Street on the west.

"I think it's going to be really good," Stalk said. "I think we'll generate some interesting stuff."

The session was officially set to begin at 8 a.m. today, and extend to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Culinary Union Local 226 hall at 1630 S. Commerce St., when the project results will be unveiled.

Participants in the charette will work 24 hours a day developing a master plan for both areas, dealing with issues including housing, commercial development and streets. Stalk said the group would deal with realistic incentives to encourage development in the downtown area, abandoned in recent years to growth in other areas.

The public is invited to drop in anytime during the charette, Stalk said.

Last year's charette encouraged the city to create an urban theater on Charleston Boulevard, install statues of the members of Frank Sinatra's "Rat Pack" as a way of establishing a common downtown identity, add more art gallery space and plant a greenbelt in a neighborhood behind the Stratosphere resort.

They also suggested a downtown people mover, which may come to fruition with the installation of a monorail from McCarran International Airport to Cashman Field, and a central park in the justice corridor.