State building named in honor of Richard Bryan

Friday, July 15, 2005 | 9:08 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Richard Bryan was praised Thursday as the first governor to oppose Yucca Mountain and later for his efforts in the Senate on the Southern Nevada Lands Act.

Gov. Kenny Guinn said Bryan was "right at the front" and "left us a template to follow" in the battle over the nuclear dump.

Guinn's remarks were made at the naming of the $19 million state Conservation and Natural Resources building in Carson City in honor of Bryan, who served in the Assembly and state Senate, was state attorney general, then governor and finally served in the U.S. Senate.

About 250 people including former members of Bryan's administration and former colleagues in the Legislature attended the hourlong ceremony.

Bryan, now in private law practice, said he was "profoundly grateful" to Guinn for this honor. He quipped that he is the first Democratic governor to have a building named after him in Carson City. Other buildings are named after Republican Govs. Henry Blasdel and John Kinkead.

Bryan said he hoped future historians would find some merit in the battles today to preserve and conserve Nevada's lands.

On the Southern Nevada Lands Purchase Act, Guinn said Bryan and Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., worked on the measure and the latest sale yielded nearly $800 million, some of which will be set aside to buy and preserve other lands in Nevada.

The governor called Bryan a "champion for Lake Tahoe," and Guinn also cited Bryan's help in preserving the Black Rock Desert and Mount Rose in Northern Nevada.

The governor noted that the Conservation and Natural Resources Department is scattered around Carson City in private buildings at 40 to 50 locations. In the 27 years over the duration of the lease-purchase agreement with which the building was constructed, the state will save $78 million in rent.

The 120,000 square foot building, with financing costs, will cost the taxpayers about $44 million.

Among those attending Thursday's event were former Assembly Speakers Joe Dini of Yerington, Lawrence Jacobsen of Minden and Bob Barengo of Reno and former and current Assembly members Roger Bremner of Las Vegas, Dawn Gibbons of Reno, Bob Price of North Las Vegas, Angelo Petrini of Storey County and Gary Sheerin of Carson City, who also served in the Senate.

Others attending were Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson; Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio of Reno; Sen. Mark Amodei of Carson City; Assemblyman Tom Brady of Yerington; former Republican Attorney General Brian McKay, who succeeded Bryan, and former state Sen. Thomas "Spike' Wilson of Reno.

Some of the members of Bryan's administration while he was governor also showed up, including his chief of staff, Marlene Lockard; legal assistant Tim Hay; commerce director Larry Struve and Labor and Employment Security Director Stan Jones.