Goodman doesn’t oppose VA clinic

Judy Odierna

Friday, Jan. 31, 2003 | 9:29 a.m.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman doesn't oppose a plan to place a veterans clinic on a portion of the city's 61-acre piece of land downtown, but he said he won't relinquish more than half of the land for it.

"I'm very firm on this," Goodman said on Thursday. "I see high-density (housing). I see high-rises. I see this going up in the air instead of sprawling out. I got a lot of projects I'd like to see on that site."

Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi said he would like to see a new veterans clinic on the site because of its proximity to Interstate 15 and U.S. 95.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., who has been lobbying to get the clinic downtown, told the Sun in November that the clinic would require about 20 acres, though other estimates have ranged from 25 to 35 acres.

Representatives for the VA clinic declined to comment on Goodman's remarks.

Goodman believes that at least 21 of the 61 acres of the former Union Pacific Railroad yard should be set aside for an academic medical center.

Goodman said that his top priority for the 61 acres is a "center of excellence" and that he will meet with representatives of the Cleveland Clinic again in February to continue talks about bringing a facility to downtown.

The Cleveland Clinic integrates clinical and hospital care with research and physician education.

With a performing arts group seeking about 5 acres and Goodman's desire to see mixed-use retail and residential on the site as well as a park, the space left for a possible VA clinic could be limited.

"I would love to have a (Veterans Affairs) facility there to work with the academic medical center," Goodman said. "It would provide a patient base, but we have a lot of talking to do."