Land swap approved for proposed St. Jude’s ranch

Erin Neff

Tuesday, May 18, 1999 | 12:28 p.m.

The Las Vegas City Council's Real Estate Committee on Monday voiced its approval for a proposed state land lease on which a St. Jude's Ranch for Children is scheduled to be built.

In November 1997 the council authorized city staffers to file an application with the Bureau of Land Management on a 40-acre tract at the intersection of U.S. 95 and Elkhorn Road, upon which St. Jude's already had a lease.

St. Jude's relinquished its lease to allow the city to build a park on that site.

In exchange for the property St. Jude's relinquished, the city will apply for a land lease for a tract north of Grand Teton Drive between Jones and Decatur boulevards.

When all four phases of the St. Jude's project are completed, the facility will house 144 at-risk children and staff members. St. Jude's houses children who are abused, abandoned, neglected and troubled.

The facility will consist of a college-like campus with cottages, a library, a school, a recreation center, a chapel, a dining hall, a store, a craft shop, recreational fields, an amphitheater and a gymnasium.

It is estimated the campus will cost $45 million.

Deputy City Manager Steve Houchens called the lease request a "win-win situation" because the city obtained the land for the park and St. Jude's will get the land for its campus.

The City Council will now vote on the lease application at its May 24 meeting.