Aging LV area starting rebirth

Erin Neff

Thursday, April 13, 2000 | 10:43 a.m.

A quick touch-up of paint was little more than an afterthought for a worker readying a new home Tuesday morning for a ceremony.

But the property, the neighborhood and the sounds of rebirth humming from construction machinery nearby consumed Carolyn Linton's mind.

"It means everything," Linton said, minutes before receiving the keys to the new home she will share with her three daughters. "It means coming from not being able to, to being able to get a home."

Two single-family homes unveiled Tuesday are also a sign that the historic Vegas Heights neighborhood is coming from not being a place many want to live to a place new residents can proudly call home.

"This is beautiful," said one man touring a four-bedroom home at the corner of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Lawry Avenue. "You couldn't get this in Summerlin."

Developer Frank Hawkins, a former city councilman and professional football player, built these homes and is planning 208 homes nearby to help bring new people into the blighted area.

"We're just trying to bring in some new houses and make the neighborhood look better," said Hawkins, president of Community Development Programs Center of Nevada.

The city of Las Vegas contributed $486,450 in federal housing grants to the project as part of its overall efforts to revitalize the area. In addition to the two homes unveiled Tuesday, two others are under construction a block away.

"We are one step closer to preserving the vitality and the individuality of Vegas Heights," said Sharon Segerblom, the city's Neighborhood Services director.

Mayor Oscar Goodman thanked Hawkins for helping bring community back to an area struggling to re-create itself.

"We're going to do about one of these (ceremonies) every other week," Goodman said. "When folks are critical and say the city doesn't care, they're wrong."

In addition to the new homes, the city has also funded street improvements on Carey Avenue and is rehabilitating older homes in Vegas Heights.

Hawkins just opened Sunset Park Apartments across Martin Luther King from the new homes and is constructing the 208 single-family home Whispering Timbers development several blocks away.

Linton's dream of home ownership was impossible as a single mother of three working in a low-level position at University Medical Center.

But when she first was offered the chance to consider a new home in West Las Vegas, she had fears about exposing her daughters Tammera, 15, Christina, 7, and Alexis, 4, to potential crime.

"With three girls I was more concerned about their safety," Linton said. "I have heard about the drugs here and I wouldn't want to risk it.

"But every day I drive by here and I'm comfortable with what's happening. It's doing nothing but coming up."

Erin Neff covers Las Vegas government for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-4062 or 229-6436, or by e-mail at erin@lasvegassun.com