Old Vegas area strives to reach new Heights

Erin Neff

Thursday, Feb. 18, 1999 | 11:10 a.m.

Vegas Heights of the 1950s was the neighborhood for blue-collar workers and minorities trying to raise their families in a decent environment.

Then came unemployment, alcohol and drugs. The once-safe streets turned into a war zone after dark and most everyone who had the means to leave did so.

But those who remained loyal to the neighborhood are putting their faith and their money on the hope that the 160-acre community can once again become a respectable place to call home.

The city of Las Vegas is sparking the rebirth with nearly $3 million in federal grants, loans and rehabilitation funds to build new homes, fix up old ones and return centralized Lubertha Johnson Park to its splendor.

On any given block bounded by Martin Luther King and Lake Mead boulevards, Revere Street and Carey Avenue, signs of the old Vegas Heights intermingle with signs of the renaissance.

Several dogs bark as a dusty Eldorado with no hubcaps passes their watch of a dilapidated home whose lawn is strewn with broken appliances, dead trees and a car on blocks. Across the street, a freshly painted yellow home with a new roof brightly outshines the drab browns and grays of the rest of the block.

Trash, stray cats and glistening glass from broken liquor bottles collect in a vacant lot across the street from the neatly manicured lawn and modest accoutrements added to the Rev. Sylvester Hooks' home since 1961.

"This was a real nice neighborhood, but it went down, down, down," said Hooks, pastor of the Great Commission Interdenominational Church and 38-year resident of Miller Avenue. "My three kids used to play in this yard before -- when all they had to worry about was a dog."

But through the efforts of residents, the city's Neighborhood Services Department and Councilman Gary Reese's office, those living in the more than 400 homes in Vegas Heights have begun to take notice of subtle and slow changes in their neighborhood.

"I nearly cried when I seen them start building up new homes here," said Agnes Merriweather, 72, who lives with her son and daughter-in-law in Vegas Heights. She was referring to the work in the neighborhood by Habitat for Humanity, which has committed to building several homes. Habitat, working with low-interest loans and donations of labor and supplies, builds homes for people who could not otherwise afford them.

So far, the city has paid for 13 homes to receive some sort of rehabilitation, anything from plumbing to new roofs to paint and simple repairs. Another six homes are getting face lifts and 10 more await funding.

"We have been in houses where you could see down to the foundation in the bathroom under the toilet," said Faye Trend, a Neighborhood Services management analyst who is spearheading the city's efforts in Vegas Heights.

George Brown, who has lived in his home since the early 1960s without a front door, received a new entrance, porch and roof from the city for nothing.

"I really do love it," Brown said. "I couldn't have gotten it done without their help."

The city plans in June to start construction on two- and three-bedroom homes scattered on eight vacant parcels in an attempt to "infill" new life into an existing block where vacant land breeds drug deals, loitering and trash dumping.

About the same time, work will begin to completely restore Lubertha Johnson Park with new playground equipment, barbecue pits, trees and a signature 10-foot-high art tower sponsored by the Las Vegas Arts Commission's "Art in Public Places" program.

On Monday, Trend will report to City Council about the project and ask for approval of a shift in the way the projects are funded. The request is to reprogram $261,142 in Community Development Block Grant funds and $204,366 in federal HOME funds for use in the overall project.

"After you build a new home, it all just kind of explodes," Trend said, driving through Vegas Heights and pointing to the many works in progress. "Residents end up painting their houses, redoing their landscaping, anything they can to chip in."

It is hoped that the new city-developed homes, as well as those being built by Habitat for Humanity and by private owners, will entice families back into the area.

With three schools nearby, churches dotting every block and the centrally located Lubertha Johnson Park, Vegas Heights seems a good family environment. But the fences, guard dogs and "no trespassing" signs are testament to the fact that few families find the neighborhood safe.

Johnson Park's once-bustling playground equipment swings only in the breeze. Children have long ago abandoned the glass-speckled sand under the metal jungle gym and monkey bars for safer after-school activities in churches, at day-care centers and inside their homes.

Sandra McDonnell runs an after-school program for about 45 children daily at Ebenezer Church of God in Christ.

"We give them something to eat and help them with their homework," McDonnell said. "We don't charge them anything, because many of them can't afford it."

Robert Murray, 66, has lived at the corner of Blankenship Avenue and Concord Street since 1959 and remembers when the area had only dirt roads and no sewers.

"When you get here, you get stuck," Murray said. "You can't afford to move on."

Now retired from his Clark County job, Murray is sinking $30,000 of his own money into a new roof and garage for his home.

"There's a lot of improvements here since the city came along to help out," Murray said, taking a break from stapling new shingles to his roof. "I think everybody likes improvement, everybody wants it to work."

Sharon Segerblom, the city's director of Neighborhood Services, said the Vegas Heights project actually has the potential for success because of the "buy-in" from the residents.

"Before, there was a lot of money spent and you couldn't see any difference," Segerblom said. "When you have the community telling you what they need and how to make it work, you can see worlds of difference."

Lawrence Weekly, community liaison from Reese's office, has met with the neighbors five times and pitched in during two cleanup days and a picnic sponsored by the city.

"They just want to see some type of redevelopment," Weekly said. "They want to see a positive face lift and see how committed the city of Las Vegas really is."

Although Hooks said he initially found it a hard sell getting residents to trust the city, he now thinks they are all working toward the same goal.

"You don't know how hard it is to convince someone the city wants to fix up their home," Hooks said. "But a lot of people are getting more confident that this is going to be good for them."

Bill McDonnell, Sandra's brother and the pastor at Ebenezer -- where the church sign reads "Future Home of a Drug-Free Neighborhood" -- said he is trying to instill a greater sense of responsibility among residents but needs the city's help.

"Once you get a pride in your neighborhood, it excites other people to improve their homes," McDonnell said. "If an individual wants to improve their home, they should be encouraged.

"They shouldn't have to go through all the rigmarole of getting permits and paying for every little thing," McDonnell added, wiping from his hands some dried cement accumulated from a morning of work in Murray's garage.

McDonnell also said the city could better help the neighborhood by targeting drug dealers and encouraging the Clark County School District to give nearby Kermit Booker Elementary more attention.

"If they would pay particular attention to the whole neighborhood, the people in the community would get more involved," McDonnell said.

Trend said the city's project is taking time but will eventually improve the entire neighborhood and help serve as a model for revitalization efforts in aging parts of eastern and downtown Las Vegas.

Beyond the refurbished homes already completed, residents will soon see a new gateway to Vegas Heights along Martin Luther King. A desert-landscaped sign will cap the entry statement but may be premature regarding the name of the community.

"This thing is real," Hooks said. "It's going to be really revitalized. We could call it the New Vegas Heights."

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