Work to start on renewable-energy exhibit hall

Jeffrey Libby

Wednesday, May 15, 2002 | 9:52 a.m.

A long-planned renewable energy exhibition hall in Eldorado Valley, southwest of downtown Boulder City, could break ground within 18 months.

The 320-acre green energy research and demonstration hall "is still a dream" as Boulder City Councilman Joe Hardy put it.

But Hardy, like others associated with the project, say the park has educational and tourist potential. They say technology developed at the site could lead to improved air quality and a more diversified economy.

Sen. Harry Reid, among others, discussed establishing a renewable energy park in Eldorado Valley as early as 1996, shortly after the city purchased 66 square miles of federal land. As part of that purchase, the city created an 85,000-acre desert tortoise preserve and a 2,500-acre energy resource area.

NTS Development, a nonprofit agency formed five years ago to create jobs for displaced Nevada Test Site workers, plans to build the park with federal and private funds. The park could accommodate as many as 25 research institutes from around the world.

A year ago, when NTS Development secured a 40-year lease of the land from the city at $1 annually, NTS President George Ormiston projected construction costs at $35 million. On Tuesday he said the park could be built for closer to $15 million.