LV City Council to hear plan for downtown performing arts center

Mary Manning and Judy Odierna

Friday, May 16, 2003 | 11:48 a.m.

Though two organizations have been trying to secure land to build two separate performing arts centers, the Las Vegas Performing Arts Foundation, which wants to bring such a facility downtown, has taken the lead.

The group will be coming before the Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday hoping to enter into an agreement that would set aside about 5 acres of land for a performing arts center on the city's 61-acre parcel on the former Union Pacific Railroad yard.

The group, backed by Don Snyder, president of the Boyd Gaming Corp., and local cardiologist Dr. Keith Boman, hope to build a 2,500- to 2,600-seat theater for first-run Broadway shows and a 600- to 800-seat theater.

The foundation is nonprofit and is made up of political heavyweights including former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones, Nevada Ballet co-founder Nancy Houssels, MGM MIRAGE Vice President Gary Jacobs, and former Sen. Richard Bryan.

Snyder's group and another organization called the Las Vegas Performing Arts Center Inc. have struggled for years to come to a compromise to pull both groups' resources together and get at least one performing arts center built. However, the groups have been unable to do so because they disagree on location.

While Snyder's group wants to go downtown, the Las Vegas Performing Arts Center Inc., headed by Donald Kemp, believes it should go in Summerlin.

Kemp said he has been trying to work with Councilman Larry Brown to secure federal land in Summerlin to build a 2,800-seat multi-purpose theater on 30 acres near Durango Drive and U.S. 95.

Kemp, who says he has the support of Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., says the group hopes to build the first phase of the facility by raising 50 percent to 70 percent of the funding through private donations. More than $1 million, including donated professional services, has already been raised, he said.

Brown, who told the Sun several months ago he would approve both facilities before making a choice, said he won't know the full details of the downtown group's proposal until his briefing on Tuesday.

"As far as the Summerlin group, I haven't heard from them in a few months," Brown said. "I'm a little in the dark on this one."

Kemp said he will attend the council meeting Wednesday in hopes of persuading the council to support the Summerlin project as well.

"If we miss getting 30 to 40 acres aside now for a performing arts center, when it's really needed in 10 to 15 years from now, then there won't be any land left," Kemp said.

Bureau of Land Management spokesman Phil Guerrero said that the federal agency has had informal talks with Kemp's group, but no formal proposal has been submitted.

Snyder's group has maintained that the amount of property Kemp's group is seeking is too much for Las Vegas.

"I have a lot of respect for the other group but we have done feasibility studies about what we really need, after considering time and money, it is not 20 to 40 acres," Snyder said.

"The maintenance on 20 to 30 acres would be exorbitant," Boman said.

Industry representatives say the city is desperate for a large venue that is geared toward performances with appropriate acoustics for instrumental and vocal performances.

They say venues at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, such as Artemus Ham Concert Hall and the Judy Bayley Theatre, and others at the casinos just don't cut it.

Jeff Koep, dean of the College of Fire Arts for UNLV, said they do not oppose a performing arts center and support efforts to build a new one.

"Right now there are not a lot of performance spaces in Las Vegas," Koep said. "We have limited dates available, especially when school starts. Almost all our venues are used nearly five days a week. It does make it tough when we can't accommodate local organizations."

Performing arts centers traditionally have been built to spur downtown redevelopment. One of the most recent examples was the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, which opened in October 1997 on a 12-acre site.

The facility, with its 2,750-seat Great Hall and a 500-seat Victoria Theater, took a decade of planning and a $187 million capital campaign to build.

A similar public/private effort is also under way in Miami, as the Performing Arts Center Foundation of Greater Miami is building a new $370 million performing arts center, which will occupy 5.8 acres in the middle of downtown Miami.

Koep said the only way two facilities could work is if the two join forces to identify which part of the cultural community they intend to serve.