Funds sought for culinary school

Thursday, April 24, 2003 | 9:12 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The Assembly Ways and Means Committee was urged Wednesday to allocate $2 million to help expand the Culinary Training Academy in Las Vegas and was asked for money to start design of a performing arts center.

Assembly Bill 465 would allocate the $2 million for the Culinary and Hospitality Academy, 710 W. Lake Mead Blvd., to grow from its present 20,000 square feet to 35,000 square feet, and $250,000 to the proposed performing arts center.

The committee did not take action on the bill.

The culinary academy currently trains about 2,500 workers a year. Enrollment will double after the expansion, said Steve Horsford, chief executive officer of Nevada Partners, which operates the facility.

The cost of the expansion is $5 million. Already $2 million has been contributed by hotels, $700,000 has come from the federal Housing and Urban Development Department and $300,000 from Clark County, Horsford said.

He said a groundbreaking is scheduled soon for the first phase, which will include a kitchen.

People who enter the program undergo about six weeks of training in such things as housekeeping, culinary arts, wines and other areas. Existing workers also can receive upgraded training to get promotions.

Assemblywoman Vonne Chowning, D-North Las Vegas, praised the training academy, saying it is giving the skill to many to enter jobs with the chance of promotions.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said both the culinary training and the performing arts center were "important components." She said a similar bill was working its way through the 2001 Legislature, but it fell by the wayside in the rush to adjournment.

Blake Cumbers, representing the Las Vegas Performing Arts Center Foundation, said the $250,000 the foundation seeks would be used as seed money to get other donations to help pay for planning and design of the arts center.

Cumbers said plans are to locate the $150 million 2,400-seat center on 5 acres within the 61-acre downtown parcel owned by Las Vegas. He said the foundation will appear May 21 before the Las Vegas City Council asking it to deed over the 5 acres.

He said the project would help educate children, improve the quality of life in Southern Nevada and help lure new business.

Giunchigliani said the committee should take a look at "tourist dollars" to fund both programs.

The foundation would be back to the Legislature in two years to seek construction money, Cumbers said.