LV seeks help from feds for downtown

Judy Odierna

Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2003 | 11:13 a.m.

Las Vegas is asking the federal government for $43.31 million for everything from public safety projects to construction efforts, with the up to $40 million of that wish list tied to the redevelopment of downtown.

The list, which would be forwarded to a Washington lobbyist should the City Council approve the agenda on Wednesday, includes:

City Manager Doug Selby said the city has been working on for the interchange for several years with the Nevada Department of Transportation and the Regional Transportation Commission.

Selby said the federal money for the academic medical center would help lure a prospective developer to the project. . "It provides a way to make the project more feasible," Selby said. "If we get the money with no strings attached then we can use it for infrastructure or planning."

Mayor Oscar Goodman said last week that he will work to keep 21 acres of the former Union Pacific Railroad yard reserved for an academic medical center. Goodman also said he was going to meet with officials from the Cleveland Clinic again in a couple of weeks to continue his effort to get them to build a facility in downtown Las Vegas.

The Cleveland Clinic integrates clinical and hospital care with research and physician training. Clinic officials have declined to comment on their interest in the city.

The city is also asking for $6 million from the feds to upgrade the area's 800-megahertz public safety radio system because the system currently only covers the Las Vegas metropolitan area but needs to cover the entire region.

Other public safety related items on the list include $1.3 million to start building a $13 million Southern Nevada Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Center, and $760,000 in federal money for the jail management computer system, patrol car computers and an in-house tracking computer system for animal control.

The city is also seeking $500,000 in federal money to transform the downtown post office on Stewart Avenue into a museum and $750,000 to add two buses to their fleet.

Federal officials said it is too soon to tell what the chances are for Las Vegas' wish list.