LV group proposes alternative performing arts center

Adrienne Packer

Thursday, Oct. 28, 1999 | 11:07 a.m.

As Donald Kemp described plans for the Las Vegas Valley's first multipurpose performing arts center, it was immediately evident he was uneasy discussing the project.

After all, it is a dream Kemp and a collection of business professionals that includes U.S. Senate candidate John Ensign have quietly protected for nearly seven years.

"We've avoided making a big splash because we wanted it to be a done-deal before we went public," Kemp, a music store owner, said Wednesday as he thumbed through professional sketches of the center. "But we were forced to go public."

Forced because Kemp's local nonprofit organization must share center-stage at Tuesday's Clark County Commission meeting with the Las Vegas Performing Arts Center Foundation -- a politically stout alliance that includes former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones and Elaine Wynn, wife of Mirage Resorts Chairman Steve Wynn.

The foundation will pitch its plan to build a performing arts center on a 10-acre parcel next to the Clark County Government Center using public and private funds. The group has also proposed a sports arena.

The commission is considering whether to lease or sell the 10 acres -- said by many to be worth nearly $10 million -- to the foundation for $1. The location of the land is ideal for the proposal because of its proximity to downtown, the Las Vegas Strip and two major freeways.

"We've looked all over town for a site," said Nancy Houssels, a member of the foundation's executive committee. "We looked at other cities and most (performing arts centers) are centrally located; they're in downtown areas."

While the foundation contingent has assembled an ad hoc committee to conduct feasibility studies for the Grand Central Parkway performing arts center and sports arena, Kemp's group has quietly pushed forward with its project.

Kemp, whose organization is called Las Vegas Performing Arts Center Inc., said nearly $20 million has been committed to the project. Even marble for the entire facility has been donated by a woman who owns quarries in Mexico.

Kemp said based on the response his group has received -- which has included an article in a Tokyo newspaper about the grassroots effort -- he is confident $100 million in private donations can be raised.

The nonprofit organization is negotiating with Howard Hughes Corp. to buy a 43-acre parcel just south of Charleston Boulevard next to the future western Las Vegas Beltway. The property is across the intersection from land where UNLV is planning its West Campus extension.

Both performing arts organizations are proposing multi-faceted facilities.

The Grand Central Parkway project would include a 2,400-seat lyric theater and an 800-seat drama theater. The facility pitched by Kemp's group includes a 2,800-seat concert hall, a 1,600-seat performance theater, a 600-seat drama theater, a 5,000-seat outdoor amphitheater and a multi-purpose function hall.

The question is: Can the two facilities co-exist?

Both representatives of the foundation and the nonprofit group danced gently around the question, trying not to offend the other.

"I think we can eventually make it a win-win," Houssels said. "(The western edge of the valley) would be a fantastic location for an amphitheater and we could do the theater district in the heart of town."

"I don't know the answer to that," Kemp said. "Maybe there is a need for a downtown venue to cater to tourists. Our focus entirely is providing people in this community a performing arts venue."

Although the foundation membership includes tourist industry heavyweights and politicians, Houssels emphasized that the downtown project would be built with residents in mind.

"It's being built to hopefully encourage a civic center and civic pride of the people who live here in Las Vegas," Houssels said. "These are people who have been here a long time and are part of our community. They have civic pride."

Both factions agree that whether it be built in the desert near the mountains or near downtown, Las Vegas is ready for an upscale performing arts center. Kemp said extensive studies and polls over the years have indicated a change in attitude.

"We've seen the public's attitude go from mildly pessimistic to wildly enthusiastic," Kemp said. "In the last two or three years, the whole attitude has changed 180 degrees."