Historic building may be moved to be saved

Mathis Winkler

Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2001 | 8:34 a.m.

What may be Nevada's oldest building stands crumbling in North Las Vegas, and city officials are considering moving it out of town to ensure its survival.

The Adobe house, which was probably built in 1856, sits on Kiel Ranch and cannot be safely entered. Its northern wall has already collapsed and wooden beams support the remaining walls and reinforce the basement. The city acquired the historical ranch on Carey Avenue in 1976 with plans to turn it into a museum.

But a quarter century later, spending money on a historical park in what has become an industrial area of town would not be in the best interest of residents, said Ken Albright, the city's parks and recreation director. He added that he wants to use the city's limited funds for parks closer to residential areas.

In the early 1990s, the city sold about 20 acres of ranch land to a developer, Albright said. The money from the sale -- about $850,000 -- was supposed to pay for a historical park on the remaining six acres of Kiel Ranch.

But after spending about $500,000 on fencing, a parking lot and bracing to prevent collapse of the Adobe house, the city doesn't have enough money left to pay for a historical park. Such a project was estimated to cost between $1.6 million and $1.8 million a few years ago, Albright said.

The White House, the ranch's main building, was lost in a 1992 fire. A wooden shack remains the only other building on the ranch besides the Adobe house.

Renovating the latter building and creating a historical park is still the preferred way to go, Albright said.

But since the city doesn't have the money and the building's survival is threatened, Albright is proposing to move the Adobe building to the Las Vegas Springs Preserve as an alternative.

Billed as the birthplace of Las Vegas, the preserve, at the intersection of U.S. 95 and Valley View Boulevard, is scheduled to open in 2005.

Officials for that project said they have space for the building, but added they didn't want to get involved until North Las Vegas residents and officials have made a decision about the house's future.

Albright said he plans to take his proposal to City Council members after finding out how much it would cost to move the house. He added that a move would protect rather than destroy a piece of Nevada history in his opinion.

"No one wants anything thrown away," Albright said, adding that he thinks the ranch should still be preserved as a historical site even if the Adobe building gets moved.

"There's a perception that I'm shedding history," he said. "I look at it in a different way. Not any site can be a museum."

Others say the city's sale of Kiel Ranch land didn't help to bring about a historical park.

"The opportunity was lost a long time ago," said Ron James, Nevada's historical preservation officer and historian. "The city sold the land until it was surrounded by warehouses."

James, who has talked to Albright about the Adobe building, said he can understand that city officials now don't want to spend money on Kiel Ranch.

"Maybe (the building's) future is going to be someplace else," he said, adding that the Adobe house and the Las Vegas Mormon Fort compete for the title "Nevada's oldest building."

James also credited Albright for trying to ensure the building's survival. Although the site has been included in the national register of historic places, North Las Vegas officials can do with the ranch whatever they want as long as they don't use federal money.

"They could choose to paint it purple, demolish it, or move it to Mars," James said, adding that he's asked Albright to keep him informed about future plans, since the state has given the city some money for Kiel Ranch.

Kiel Ranch supporters said the remaining land would do just fine for a historical park.

"Obviously I don't think (moving the house) is the right thing to do," said Craig Galati, a Las Vegas architect who drew up plans for a Kiel Ranch historical park in 1997.

Assemblyman Tom Collins, D-North Las Vegas, who introduced an unsuccessful bill during the 1999 legislative session that would have given the city $2 million to turn Kiel Ranch into a historical park, agreed.

Visiting a historic building at its original site "is so much more valuable than putting it behind a glass window somewhere," Collins said.

"There's just a very, very pitiful lack of respect for history in this state, because there are so many people here that have no base here," Collins said. "So they trample on our heritage."

Another state legislator said he'd like to try again to get state funds for Kiel Ranch in 2003.

"I certainly would be a part of trying to do something along those lines," said Assemblyman Bob Price, D-North Las Vegas, who stayed at the ranch for a few days in the 1950s. "I certainly wouldn't want to do anything to further destroy it."