City council set to vote Monday on historic downtown plan

Saturday, Sept. 6, 1997 | 9:19 a.m.

The council is poised to give a San Diego development firm $13.5 million to turn a prime chunk of land along the Truckee River into an entertainment complex featuring a movie theater, shops and restaurants.

The council also is expected to name the same firm, OliverMcMillan, as master developer for riverfront sites now occupied by the boarded-up Mapes and Riverside hotel-casinos. Plans for those sites still are uncertain.

Reno Mayor Jeff Griffin said he intends to vote Monday for turning the redevelopment projects competely over to the San Diego group.

"We've worked hard at it. It's a sound business deal and will pay tremendous dividends for the citizens," he told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

OliverMcMillan specializes in redevelopment projects and has eight similar entertainment centers under way in Southern California.

But at least one council member questions whether the deal with OliverMcMillan is too sweet.

"It's like somewhere on the way we made a commitment to OliverMcMillan to give them everything," Councilwoman Candice Pearce said. "That's how it appears to the public, and sometimes it appears to me we're doing just that."

Pearce and Councilwoman Judy Pruett criticized Griffin and three other council members for reaching a decision before Monday's public hearing.

The four officials held a news conference last week to announce they had made up their minds on what will be built and who will build it.

"Maybe it is a done deal, but it isn't with me, and people don't realize how much public input means at a city council meeting," Pearce said.

Under the proposal, the city would give OliverMcMillan $6.5 million to build a 14-screen theater complex, which would anchor the two-block redevelopment project.

The financing would come from bonds and is in addition to the land itself, which alone is worth millions more.

OliverMcMillan says it would be too expensive to bring the two landmark hotels up to earthquake standards, but Councilman Dave Aiazzi is spearheading a last-ditch effort to save both.

"This is the final shot for the Mapes. Whether it stays or comes down, a decision will be made before the end of the year," Aiazzi said.

The Mapes, which has been closed since 1982, was once Reno's finest resort. Sammy Davis Jr., Mae West and Milton Berle all performed in its Sky Room.

Griffin said he supports efforts to save sections of the Riverside built in 1927, but wants newer portions torn down. The Riverside has been closed since 1986.