Mayor targets national museum

Erin Neff and Benjamin Grove

Friday, Sept. 15, 2000 | 11:58 a.m.

Visitors to Washington, D.C., can spend a few days in the Smithsonian Institution's various museums without even denting the overall collection.

So Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman hopes to wrest a piece of the massive cultural icon for Las Vegas, and he doesn't just mean a site for an occasional collection.

Goodman is hoping that preliminary talks with members of Nevada's congressional delegation could lead to downtown Las Vegas becoming home to the Smithsonian West.

"I think that would really define our commitment to culture," Goodman said.

The Smithsonian in past years has declined to build museums in other cities, but has sent exhibitions on the road for years in traveling tours.

But Goodman said he doesn't just want an occasional view of culture, history and art.

"I want the real McCoy," he said.

Establishing a Smithsonian West would take an act of Congress. And that's where the offices of Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., and Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., come into play.

"There will be upcoming talks," said Berkley's spokesman, Michael O'Donovan. "This is still in its pre-conceptual stages, but we're certainly listening to the idea."

"Sen. Reid believes that any affiliation with the Smithsonian would be beneficial and prestigious for Las Vegas," Reid spokesman Mark Scheurmann said.

Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., said he had not talked to Goodman and did not think a Smithsonian West was being contemplated.

"But what could happen is that they have many, many items that they simply don't have space enough to exhibit, and they could make those available to existing museums and to new museums," Bryan said.

The Smithsonian proposal is the latest to surface after the city first inked a preliminary deal to swap land with Lehman Brothers for a 61.5-acre parcel of undeveloped land downtown.

Proposals have come in to the mayor's office for shopping centers, casinos, a sports arena, a pro soccer stadium and a performing arts center. The mayor will travel to San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday to meet with the chief executive of Cisco Systems about a possible development in Las Vegas.

While the other proposals have come up largely since the land deal was proposed in June, Goodman said the Smithsonian idea has been with him since he heard it on the campaign trail in 1999.

The Smithsonian Institution is comprised of 15 museums and the National Zoo in Washington and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City. It also has nine research centers outside Washington.

Just about any proposal for the undeveloped land draws Goodman's interest and city officials are trying to find a way to create a lasting gateway to downtown.

Lesa Coder, the city's director of the Office of Business Development, will travel to San Diego today for an Urban Land Institute workshop. Goodman plans to join her there later to gain new ideas for downtown.

The city also plans to place ads in national publications such as the Wall Street Journal to inform developers about the parcel.

On Wednesday the City Council is scheduled to approve a land swap with Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Under terms of the deal the city will give Lehman 99 acres in its northwest technology center and $2 million in cash for the 61-acre parcel near the Spaghetti Bowl.

The city is also planning to hold a workshop with Urban Land Institute planners about possible uses for the site.