Park receives reprieve from parking plan

Wednesday, Dec. 1, 1999 | 9:44 a.m.

The federal Bureau of Reclamation has shelved a proposal that would have turned a portion of a park in Boulder City into a parking lot for bureau employees.

The proposal raised the ire of residents who feared the plan would have affected the historical character of the Park Street area, which is home to some of the oldest buildings in the town. The bureau's administration building, one of the original structures of the city, is across the street from Wilbur Park.

"We have pretty much taken that off of the tables," Bill Manning, the bureau's director of management services, said.

The bureau is still seeking a way to consolidate several hundred workers in one place. The sticky issue for the bureau is finding parking for all of the workers near the administration building.

Manning said consolidation at the administration building -- referred to as "The Hill" by bureau employees -- is still being considered. Other options include moving a portion of the staff, now scattered around the city, into the administration building or relocating the entire staff to another site in Boulder City.

The bureau and the city have had a close relationship since the bureau built Hoover Dam in the 1930s. The administration building, the bureau's regional headquarters, overlooks the core of the city's downtown triangle, including Park Street and Wilbur Park.

Manning said the bureau is still considering a proposal to put some additional diagonal parking along Park Street.

Some residents are happy that the Wilbur Park proposal is off the table but are still concerned about what will happen at the administration building.

"Of course I'm glad to hear it," said Dennis McBride, collections specialist for the Boulder City/Hoover Dam Museum. "But I really don't want to see anything changed majorly on that hill."

He suggested a better place to consolidate the staff would be on old federal Bureau of Mines property on the west side of the town or on other vacant land.

The Bureau of Reclamation's new plans will be discussed at a Dec. 8 meeting in room 205 of the administration building, Manning said. The meeting is at 7 a.m. to accommodate city officials who are unavailable later in the day, he said.

Boulder City Mayor Robert Ferraro said shelving the proposal that would have intruded on the park came as a relief to him and to city residents.

The city will work with the bureau to resolve the parking issue, he said, while preserving the historic character of the neighborhood.

John Sullard, Boulder City manager, said one possibility is for the bureau to relocate its staff to land owned by the city. Of the 200 square miles within the city limits, 193 square miles are owned by the city, Sullard noted.