Editorial: Plan would give UNLV a bright future

Monday, Sept. 13, 2004 | 9 a.m.

There has always been something immediately disappointing about the campus area of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Carol Harter put her finger on it last week during her annual state-of-the-university speech. Harter, UNLV's president, drew everyone's attention to the portion of Maryland Parkway that runs alongside the campus. On the west side of the street is the campus, with its open quad accentuated by old-growth trees. Here, with the library prominent among the surrounding class buildings,the campus has the feel and look of a university. This sense is not extended to the east side of the parkway, however, where the property is largely aged retail outlets that clash with the aura of a university.

Harter envisions transforming that whole area, and other areas of Maryland Parkway near the university, into a vital, energetic university community that she would call "Midtown UNLV." The project would replace deteriorating shopping plazas and other incompatible buildings with restaurants, galleries, book stores, outside gathering places and loft-style condominiums above first-floor retail shops. Sidewalks along Maryland Parkway would be widened and the street itself, from Flamingo Road to Tropicana Avenue, would be narrowed to provide a more relaxing atmosphere for pedestrians. Additionally, land would be acquired that would allow for the future growth of UNLV. Harter's redevelopment proposal is part of her overall vision for UNLV, which is for it to evolve into a "major metropolitan research university."

We are impressed by this plan and we hope it gains widespread support. A community fortunate enough to have a nationally known university should pull together and help make it as attractive as possible. Harter sees the redevelopment as having the effect of integrating UNLV more into the life of Las Vegas, an exciting prospect. So far the support has been forthcoming. Mike Saltman, a UNLV Foundation member and owner of the Promenade Shopping Center across Maryland Parkway from the university, says he will restructure his property to be consistent with Harter's vision. Top Clark County officials, including Manager Thom Reilly and several commissioners, have expressed support. Interim Chancellor Jim Rogers, the Board of Regents and UNLV's faculty and staff reacted favorably to Harter's speech.

Whether Harter's vision comes to pass rests primarily on whether local government, its taxpayers, UNLV and affected private landowners can all agree on the plan and whether they will all be willing to share in the cost. If the plan comes together in phases, with the costs spread out over the next decade, we believe the cost would not be an obstacle. And for what the project would bring to the community, cooperation should be a no-brainer.