A year after Mapes implosion, Reno asked to toughen historic preservation ordinance

Martim Griffith

Monday, Jan. 29, 2001 | 12:22 p.m.

RENO, Nev. - A year after the implosion of the historic Mapes Hotel, the City Council is being asked to toughen the city's historic preservation ordinance.

Councilwoman Toni Harsh, a historic preservationist who was elected after fighting to save the Mapes, said she plans to request modifications to the ordinance at Monday night's meeting.

Among other things, Harsh said she wants the ordinance to require a replacement development project with secured financing to be in place before any significant historic building can be torn down.

She said many residents have called to complain that the city still has no plan for the lot that remains empty where the Mapes stood in the heart of the downtown. The luxury hotel-casino was blown up by the city last Jan. 30.

"I don't think I'm asking for anything unreasonable," Harsh said Sunday. "Before you eliminate a potential resource, you must make sure you have something better to replace it.

"The Mapes was a landmark building for our state and the intent is to avoid another mistake like that."

Councilman Dave Aiazzi, who voted for the contract to implode the Mapes, said he needs more specifics before taking a position on Harsh's proposal.

"I wonder what private property owners will think," he said. "We already have one property owner who said he would tear down his historic buildings before any tougher ordinance is done.

"We can't save every building, but the city has a good record on saving historic buildings. I'll bet we've put $12 million into saving those buildings in recent years."

Richard Moe, president of the Washington, D.C.-based National Trust for Historic Preservation, supported Harsh's proposal.

In the 11-year history of the trust's annual listing of America's Most Endangered Historic Places, the Mapes was the first to be destroyed.

"One year after the Mapes Hotel came down in a cloud of dust and disappointment, there's hope that adoption of a new, strong historic preservation ordinance will help guarantee a brighter future for Reno's past," Moe said.

"With this ordinance, elected officials and citizens can ensure that this city's heritage will stay intact and alive instead of being hauled off to the landfill. That won't bring back the Mapes, but it will help give its loss some meaning."

Harsh said she wants the council to refer the matter to the Historic Resources Commission for review.

She said she also wants the panel to study tough historic preservation ordinances in Seattle, Dallas and Portland, Maine to "see if anything else can be applied to Reno."

Built in 1947, the 12-story Mapes ushered in the modern era of gambling. It was the first building in the nation constructed to house a casino, hotel and live entertainment under one roof.

It was the place to be seen during its glory years in the '50s and '60s, when entertainers such as Mae West, the Marx Brothers and Sammy Davis Jr. performed in its top-floor Sky Room.