Editorial: New studio sounds like worthy risk

Friday, June 20, 2003 | 9:15 a.m.

The city of Las Vegas has faith in the growing corporation known as CenterStaging and we believe it's well placed. This is a company two men started 20 years ago with talent, an idea, a van, a pickup truck -- and not much else. Their idea was born out of their own experiences. Johnny Caswell had been a singer of some note in the 1960s and 1970s and Jan Parent had worked in TV musical productions. Both realized that most professional musicians needed better rehearsal and recording facilities, where there would be backup instruments, professional audio services, and quality technical support. They built such a business from scratch and incorporated in 1992. Today their production support contributes to more than 100 shows a year, including the Grammys and the Academy Awards. They have recording facilities in Burbank, Calif., and Bensalem Township, Pa., outsi de Philadelphia. And soon they will break ground in West Las Vegas.

A city-owned 5-acre lot off Martin Luther King Boulevard, between Lake Mead Boulevard and Vegas Drive, will be the site of a new $17 million facility. In exchange for eventually donating the land, the city signed an agreement with CenterStaging that protects the taxpayers' interests. The agreement requires the company to deposit $1.2 million as insurance that the project will be completed. It also requires the company to hire and train 47 local residents at salaries of not less than $12 an hour. Additionally, the company is required to finish building the facility by Dec. 1, 2004.

The jobs and taxes associated with construction, the 47 permanent jobs, and the $96,000 a year in local taxes the facility is projected to generate make this project a worthy risk anywhere. It's especially worthy, however, for West Las Vegas, an area that has long needed this kind of investment.