Another grant considered for old post office

Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2003 | 9:05 a.m.

The Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday will discuss -- and undoubtedly accept -- a $250,000 federal grant that will bring to nearly $1.6 million a pool of funds to turn the old downtown post office into a museum.

While consultants are still trying to determine the best cultural use for the facility at 301 E. Stewart Ave., city officials say the eventual cost for the project figures to be several million dollars.

The latest grant -- the largest to date for the former post office and federal courthouse -- comes from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and is being funneled to the city through the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office.

"This grant is quite a feather in our cap because these are highly sought-after federal funds -- there is a lot of competition for them," said Nancy Deaner, the Las Vegas cultural affairs manager.

"We do not yet know exactly what the project will be or the eventual total cost. But we expect that we will get more guidance on that in January or February, once the studies are complete."

The California-based historical preservation consulting firm of Chattel & Goldstein currently is studying the structure that was built in 1933 to determine its best uses. City officials have said the cost of reconstruction will be in the millions of dollars.

Because of the funding sources the city has tapped the last two years, the project must be cultural in nature, Deaner said.

Last year the city set aside $1 million in capital funds to refurbish the neoclassical red brick building that the federal government gave to the city in 2002 after three years of negotiations.

The city has received $595,000 in state and federal grants, including the one to be approved Wednesday.

The first -- and previously largest grant -- was $150,000 from the state Commission on Cultural Affairs in 2002. Last March, that agency ponied up another $120,000, Deaner said.

In July, the city announced it had received a $75,000 federal grant from the VA-HUD spending bill, through the efforts of Reps. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., and Jon Porter, R-Nev. But that grant became embroiled in controversy when it was learned that the city had garnered just one-sixth the amount it had sought.

The city actually had sought $500,000 for the museum -- a move that gave clearer indications of just how expensive it is going to be to turn the old building into a cultural center.

The grant that will be considered for approval Wednesday is part of a $347,000 allocation that includes $97,000 for an exhibit of artifacts uncovered in Virginia City saloon site excavations.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., helped secure the grant money for both projects, officials said.

The post office, which is listed on the state and national Register of Historic Places, will be refurbished under historical restoration guidelines, Deaner said, noting it will be "restored to its original stage."

Plans are for the museum to be operating in some fashion in time for the city's centennial celebration on May 15, 2005.

"(The museum) will be a component of the centennial, with some exhibits and public tours," Deaner said. "But the actual construction to make the building what it eventually will become won't begin until after the centennial celebration."

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, a longtime criminal defense attorney, has suggested that a possible use for the old post office would be a museum featuring, among other things, the mob's history in Southern Nevada.

The building also served as the city's first federal courthouse and was one of the sites of the 1950 Kefauver hearings into organized crime.

Earlier this year, Goodman said his vision for the museum is "to tell the history of Las Vegas ... warts and all. Our history is different than other cities, it makes us unique ... You want a museum to be an exciting place to provide a wonderful educational experience for locals and tourists."

The museum also is intended to be the focal point of an urban park. The first phase of the park, to the east of the building, was completed earlier this year.