Bill provides $75,000 for Aliante library project

Dan Kulin

Monday, July 28, 2003 | 9:55 a.m.

Plans for a $5 million library in the new North Las Vegas master-planned community Aliante got $75,000 in seed money from the federal government Friday.

The money was included in the VA-HUD spending bill that was passed Friday by the House.

Sometime in 2004 the city library district, which is overseen by a seven-member board that includes the City Council and two citizens, will borrow whatever additional money is needed to build the library, district Director Anita Laruy said.

The district has already set aside $500,000 for the new library, which Laruy said is targeted to open in 2005 or early 2006.

The library has been planned for years, and has long been part of the development plan for Aliante, which is expected to eventually have about 7,500 homes and 20,000 people on 1,905 acres of former Bureau of Land Management property.

Aliante is a project of North Valley Enterprises LLC, which is a partnership between developers American Nevada Co. and Del Webb Corp. American Nevada is owned by the Greenspun family, which also owns the Las Vegas Sun.

The developers donated three acres next to a central park for the library.

Laruy said that while the $75,000 isn't an overwhelming donation, every little bit helps.

"Every penny counts. You get $75,000 here, $100,000 from over there, $1 million from there, that's how you do it," Laruy said.

Berkley spokesman Richard Yurey said the federal contribution is intended to be seed money to help spur the fund-raising for the project.

The Aliante library would be the third in North Las Vegas.

The city's 18,000-square-foot main library is part of the City Hall complex on Civic Center Drive. There is also a 4,000-square-foot branch library in a storefront at 4528 W. Craig Road. That library opened in August 2001.

Laruy said the planned 15,000-square-foot Aliante library might replace the Craig Road branch.

The district also has long-range plans to put a library on 4.5 acres it owns on Alexander Road, just west of Martin Luther King Boulevard, Laruy said.

The money for the Aliante library would be borrowed by the library district as part of the district's regular budget, which is funded with property tax revenue. There would not be a special bond issue placed on an upcoming ballot for the project, Laruy said.

In 1995, a bond question to provide funding for a new library failed, and since then the district has been saving money to help pay for major capital projects, Laruy said.

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