VA will seek new site for LV Valley clinic

Dan Kulin

Monday, March 31, 2003 | 11:16 a.m.

The Department of Veterans Affairs will seek offers for land for a new Las Vegas veterans clinic now that talks between the VA and city officials about city-owned property downtown have fallen through, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said this morning.

VA and city leaders had been talking about putting a new veterans clinic on part of the city's vacant 61 acres that was the former Union Pacific Railroad yards.

"It's done it's over. The 61 acres just didn't work out for the VA," Berkley spokesman Michael O'Donovan said.

"They will be announcing in the next couple days a request for proposals from public and private landholders ... to see what's out there," O'Donovan said.

VA Secretary Anthony Principi visited the city-owned 61 acres in November and met with Berkley and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman to discuss possible sites for a new veterans clinic.

VA officials said in January the secretary wanted to build a new clinic on the city's property, but wouldn't commit to the project until the VA had done its own environmental assessment of the property. City officials have said that while soil on the former railroad yards has been cleaned, some contaminants, primarily from spilled diesel fuel, still exist in certain areas deeper than two feet into the ground.

O'Donovan said he did not know if environmental concerns played a part in the decision for the VA to look elsewhere for a new clinic location.

Local VA officials referred questions on the matter to VA officials in Washington, D.C., who did not respond to questions this morning.

"It's disappointing news that they're not really interested," said Las Vegas City Councilman Lawrence Weekly, whose ward includes the 61 acres, "but it's not a negative as long as we stay supportive and try to find the best solution we can for the veterans."

O'Donovan said VA officials have told the congresswoman a new veterans clinic will be built and opened within three years, and she still expects that time line will be met.

"I don't think it will delay the process too long," O'Donovan said.

Berkley, who sits on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, has been a strong supporter of building a new clinic for Las Vegas veterans.

A new clinic would replace the Addeliar D. Guy III Ambulatory Care Center at 1700 Vegas Drive.