Aerospace museum may land elsewhere

Jace Radke

Wednesday, March 29, 2000 | 11:46 a.m.

Scott Fisher hasn't given up on his vision of a multimillion-dollar aerospace museum in Southern Nevada, but the facility may not be located in Boulder City as originally planned.

On Tuesday night former Secretary of State Cheryl Lau, who is on the museum's board, told the Boulder City Council that the Fisher Air and Space Educational Center was withdrawing from its lease on a 42-acre site at the old Boulder City Airport.

"We have decided to withdraw the lease and vacate the premises, but we will continue to work on this project," Lau said. "We are not abandoning the museum, but we think it would be in ours and the city's best interest to withdraw and continue to work with the city."

The city had agreed to lease the site to the Fisher Museum Foundation for 42 years at a rate of $1 a year.

Ground was broken on the center in August 1998, but financing for the project did not materialize.

Fisher, son of Paul Fisher, creator of the Fisher Space Pen that NASA uses in space, said he doesn't see the giving up of the lease as a setback.

"We were just ready to take a different direction," Fisher said. "We're still looking forward to moving ahead and having a positive relationship with the city.

"All I can say about funding is that there are financial people around the project."

Lau said all options will now be looked at in regard to the future of the museum complex.

"Boulder City has been a special location to us, but we have many other options before us," Lau said.

The nonprofit facility is to include an interactive aerospace museum, a learning center, planetarium and a zero-gravity facility with simulated planetary landscapes. The learning center would be a franchise of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education, an international, not-for-profit education organization based in Washington, D.C.

Mayor Bob Ferraro said he thought the decision made by the group is the right one for now.

"There has been a tremendous amount of effort expended on this project, and I think this will give an opportunity for everyone to get together on it," Ferraro said. "This project has caused a lot of us to think about the possibilities of what can be done.

"I think I can speak for the council when I say that we would like to see this group move ahead and realize Mr. Fisher's vision."

Lau said there is no timetable set on finding a site for the museum or for returning with any revised proposals to the council. Anything planned for exhibit in the museum already at the site will be put into storage, Lau said.

Jace Radke is a reporter for the Las Vegas Sun. He can be reached at (702) 259-2318 or by e-mail at jace@lasvegassun.com