LV lawyer, wife pledge $1 million to state college

David Kihara

Monday, Dec. 20, 2004 | 9:41 a.m.

A Las Vegas lawyer and his wife are pledging to provide $1 million to Nevada State College so long as the Nevada Legislature ponies up the remaining $9 million needed for a new liberal arts building on the campus.

In a letter dated Dec. 15, Robert and Emily Martin wrote to Nevada State College officials that they would provide $1 million in $100,000 annual increments on the condition that the Nevada Legislature provides the rest of the money "necessary to construct the first building (on) the Henderson campus."

"I really do believe Nevada is becoming a big-time state, and Las Vegas is growing, so we need a good university and state college," Martin said Friday.

Martin, who is with the law firm McCrea Martin Allison Ltd., said his decision to make the donation conditional on the state paying for the liberal arts building stems from watching how the state of California often pays for services and construction on various state campuses.

"I want to jump-start things, and the sooner the better," he said.

According to Martin's letter, the first installment of his donation would be paid two years after students began using the new liberal arts building.

Martin was born in Iowa but resided in Las Vegas for part of his youth and attended high school in the Las Vegas Valley. He holds a bachelor's degree from Willamette University in Oregon and a law degree from California Western University.

"On behalf of the college we are ecstatic," Spencer Stewart, spokesman for Nevada State College, said Friday. "This money will be used for students with financial needs and will provide an opportunity for students who otherwise couldn't attend college."

Martin's pledge follows two other high-profile pledges with similar conditions. On Dec. 9, Las Vegas Sun President Brian Greenspun announced he would provide the college with $2 million, with the first $1 million delivered after the Nevada Legislature pays for the construction of the liberal arts building and the second million to come after the building has been up and running for five years.

In October, Nevada State College Interim Chancellor Jim Rogers made a $2 million pledge, with the same conditions as the Greenspun and Martin pledge.

The total estimated cost for the liberal arts building is $23.4 million, Stewart said.

The issue of who will pay for the liberal arts college stretches back to 2001, when the state legislature promised to set aside $13.4 million for the construction of a liberal arts building at Nevada State College campus after proponents of the school promised to raise the remaining $10 million needed.

However, since 2001, the college has only raised $1 million toward the construction of the new building.

"To grow and meet the demands of the state, the college must have more space or it will limit the programs offered," Steward said.

Some state senators, however, were irked at the prospect of having to pay an additional $9 million because the school couldn't raise the required funds.

"We asked (the school) to commit, they couldn't, and now they are asking for more funding," said Sen. Maggie Carlton, D-Las Vegas, on Friday.

That $10 million would had proved to the legislature that there was public support for the school, she said.

Now that the school couldn't raise the funds, it sends a message that perhaps there isn't enough support in the community for an expanded Nevada State College campus.

"We asked for a commitment from the community so everyone involved has something at stake," Carlton said. "We just need to sit down with the parties involved and see how important this is."

Carlton said that she believed there is a need for Nevada State College in Nevada, but she is frustrated by the lack of funding available, especially considering the low public funds available for the foster care system, the homeless and public safety.

"I realize the state college needs to be in our future, it's just a matter of people not putting people in corners."

Another state senator, Bob Coffins, D-Las Vegas, agreed with Carlton.

"The donors should be commended for their donations, but the college is going to have to stand in line with the rest of the university system," he said, adding that the Nevada State College liberal arts building is a "priority."

The liberal arts building is slated to be 76,000 square feet and will contain 14 classrooms, 65 faculty offices, five labs, three computer labs, two multimedia rooms and a student lounge and cafe, Stewart said.

The construction design -- the last phase before bidding and construction --- is 70 percent complete, Stewart said. The college plans to bid for the construction of the building by the end of 2005, with the bid awarded by the beginning of 2006. If the funding is in place, construction would begin in 2007 with a tentative completion date of late 2008, he said.