Mayor asks railroad to donate land for arts center

Erin Neff

Friday, Dec. 10, 1999 | 11:14 a.m.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman continues to oppose a plan by Sheriff Jerry Keller to build a police administration building downtown on land also eyed for a performing arts center.

Goodman met Thursday with representatives of land owner Union Pacific Railroad to ask if they might consider donating 10 acres for a cultural center.

Asked before that meeting if Union Pacific had any incentive for "giving away" the land, Goodman replied: "Right now it's been sitting there forever. Something has to attract development."

Last month, Clark County commissioners gave Metro the green light to proceed with plans for a police administration building on 10 acres of county-owned land near the county Government Center.

The Las Vegas Performing Arts Foundation had wanted that same parcel of land for a proposed $100 million downtown cultural center.

Goodman said he hoped Union Pacific would be willing to discuss options for the proposed downtown performing arts center.

Neither Goodman nor Union Pacific officials could be reached for comment after Thursday's meeting.

The railroad owns the bulk of 178 acres of vacant land immediately adjacent to downtown and stretching to Interstate 15. Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc. owns 61.5 acres of the site closest to the freeway.

The land has been vacant for years with plans for everything from a domed stadium to office space. The site is currently zoned for planned development, which limits the allowable uses and imposes strict design and development standards to promote residential-friendly and civic uses.

The downtown performing arts center is backed by community leaders such as Elaine Wynn, a Mirage Resorts board member and wife of its chairman, Steve Wynn.

A competing group, Las Vegas Performing Arts Inc., headed by Donald Kemp, has secured a 43-acre site off Charleston Boulevard near Red Rock Canyon for a possible performing arts center.

The Union Pacific land also is being touted as a potential site for a sports arena and already J.A. Jones Construction Co. has expressed interest in building such a facility.