New courthouse may be short a floor

Kim Smith

Friday, Aug. 18, 2000 | 11:39 a.m.

If an 18th floor is to be added to the Regional Justice Center, the $4 million needed is going to have to come from the business community, court officials say.

"The county has determined they are not going to fund it," District Attorney Stewart Bell said. "Right now, Supreme Court Justice Nancy Becker is looking to see if we can acquire private funding. Unless that happens we won't have an extra floor in the courthouse."

Court administrators and county officials have been meeting over the past several weeks to discuss possible funding sources for an additional floor for the $123 million courthouse, which is expected to be completed in January 2002.

The floor was cut out of the original plans for the building when bids on the project came back $13.5 million higher than expected and after another $13 million had been cut out of the project before it even went to bid.

But, because the county is growing so rapidly, court officials fear the courthouse will be overcrowded the instant it opens. Therefore, they have been hoping to get the floor added while the downtown building is under construction.

Assistant County Manager Mike Alastuey said Thursday that the county simply can't find any more funds to sink into a project "that has already been heavily invested in."

"I don't know that we can go any further than the steps we've already taken," Alastuey said.

Becker said she has representatives from various local businesses speaking with others about a possible investment, but her calendar has prevented her from attending as many meetings as she would like.

"Frankly, because of the workload of the court and I am running my own (re-election) campaign, I've been unable to make as many calls as I would like," Becker said. "But, I think there is an appetite in the business community to help."

If the $4 million can not be raised, one of the county's options would be to move a portion of Bell's office to the Bridger Building across the street from the Clark County Courthouse.

Bell said that would be his last choice. He would rather move his entire office to the Bridger Building than be split in two. Of course, his first option would be to keep his entire office in the justice center.

"But, we're team players and we will certainly do whatever is necessary to make the system work the best it can," Bell said.

The justice center will house Las Vegas municipal courts, Las Vegas Township justice courts, the district courts, the Nevada Supreme Court, the county clerk's office and the district attorney's office.

When it was designed, officials hoped it would last the courts for 15 years and the district attorney's office for 10 years.

Because of the cost of construction, however, the project was scaled down. Now, legislators are considering the creation of a business court system, which means the floor will be needed more than ever.

Becker said she is confident there are those in the community who recognize the constraints city and county governments work under and are willing to help their community out.

"We would certainly recognize them in some form or fashion," Becker said. "The sooner we can get something together the better off we are. The longer we wait, the higher the cost (of materials) will be."

Becker said anyone interested in assisting the court system can call her office at 486-3205.