Donor lays down $1.5 million toward proposed Jewish community campus

Valerie Miller

Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2000 | 10:07 a.m.

A Jewish community campus in Las Vegas is $1.5 million closer to reality, thanks to the donation of a local woman.

Priscilla Schwartz, 61, gave the funds in memory of her late husband, Walter Schwartz, who was president of the real estate company Schwartz Enterprises in Las Vegas until his death in 1998.

In honor of Schwartz's contribution, which she presented Tuesday to the Jewish Community Campus Committee, the Las Vegas campus will be named after the couple. The land that will be used for the campus was previously donated by the Greenspun family, owners of the Las Vegas Sun.

The announcement was made at a gathering Tuesday of Jewish community leaders and members at the Jewish Federation's Sigesmund Center, 3909 S. Maryland Parkway. The event attracted close to 100 people.

"I wanted to do something in memory of my husband and leave him a legacy to be proud of," Schwartz said before the event. "Since he had no children, I wanted to have the building named after him to carry on his name."

Plans call for two campuses for what will become focal points for the estimated 75,000 residents of Las Vegas' Jewish community.

The east side campus will be located on 7.5 acres of the land donated by the Greenspun family. The campus will be east of Pecos Road and south of Paseo Verde in Green Valley. Plans for the facility call for a Jewish home for the aging, a community center and Jewish family services agency offices.

The west side facility is planned for Park Run Drive, west of Town Center Drive between Alta and Charleston Boulevard, in Summerlin. The west side campus will be located on 7.5 acres of donated land.

Schwartz said she and her husband were closely tied to the Jewish community and that she wanted Las Vegans to have the same support system she grew up with.

"As a girl, I went to many Jewish community centers, and both my mother and grandmother were later in Jewish homes for the aging, so I would like to see Las Vegas have the ability to support its Jewish population," she said.

Hal Ober, chairman of the Jewish Community Campus, said that the campuses were slated for opening sometime in 2001, and that the entire project will cost between $25 million and $30 million to complete.

"We hope to kick off the capital campaign to raise the rest of the money by April 1," Ober said. "I hope that others will follow her (Schwartz's) lead."