Where to put City Hall?

Saturday, Nov. 5, 2005 | 7:25 a.m.

North Las Vegas officials' need for a new, bigger City Hall has touched off a debate over whether the building should serve as a catalyst for downtown redevelopment or be built farther north where the city is growing.

The City Council may provide some direction as early as Tuesday during a special meeting to discuss the 2006 capital improvement plan.

North Las Vegas' growth is driving the need for a new City Hall. Now home to an estimated 178,000 people, it is expected to see its population soar to 468,000 in 20 years. To meet the needs of that population, City Hall, which houses 1,623 employees, is projected to need 2,757 more workers in two decades.

Toward that end, a Public Works staff report recommends that the city acquire 20 to 30 acres and construct a 220,000-square-foot, two- to three-story building "to better serve a majority of residents." The current 39-year-old City Hall is 66,000 square feet.

While the report does not propose a specific location, it discusses removing the "core functions of government" from the downtown area.

The City Hall campus in the southeast part of North Las Vegas would be designated for other uses such as a police and justice complex, according to the report.

The options are likely to stir emotions by pitting the downtown area versus the new-growth areas and master-planned communities on the north side.

During a study session Wednesday, Councilwoman Shari Buck was adamant that City Hall stay downtown.

The city could purchase a blighted area nearby and transform that area with a new City Hall, she said. Then the existing campus could still become a public-safety complex. The city could have satellite offices in newer growth areas where people could pay utility bills and access other services.

"If you move City Hall out of downtown, it will kill downtown," Buck said.

In contrast, Councilwoman Stephanie Smith said City Hall should move closer to the northern areas where most of the city's growth is occurring.

"The city is going north. I don't think downtown is downtown" anymore, Smith said.

Smith said the city could use the current campus as a justice center and provide residents a place to pay their water bills.

It does not matter to residents in the city's south end if many departments are elsewhere, she said.

Building a new City Hall on a new campus would be the cheapest alternative at a cost of $113.3 million, according to the report. Acquiring Bureau of Land Management property or Nellis Air Force Base-controlled BLM land on the north end of the city will reduce construction costs and allow more amenities, the report said.

The most expensive option, at a cost of $133.7 million, calls for leasing 82,000 square feet of commercial space for three years, demolishing City Hall and rebuilding a three- to four-story structure.

"Everybody seems to agree we need new facilities," Mayor Michael Montandon said. "The question is where to site the new facility. I just don't know the answer to that. I like the idea of a strong presence downtown, but I just don't know what type of presence that would be."

Councilman Robert Eliason, whose Ward 1 includes City Hall, wants the city to purchase a shopping center fronting Lake Mead Boulevard for the campus expansion. He said because most residents never go to City Hall, it makes no difference to them where it is located.

Eliason said the city could purchase land and put satellite offices in the northern part of the city to better serve that area. But he said North Las Vegas should follow the trend of other governments such as Henderson, Las Vegas and Clark County, which kept their facilities downtown, he said.

"If you look at redevelopment plans, it is a must for redevelopment," Eliason said. "It is a landmark that needs to stay."

But North Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Sharon Powers said she would like to see a City Hall complex farther north, closer to where the business growth is occurring, to improve accessibility.

If the city remains on the existing campus, the City Hall complex needs to become much more attractive, Powers said.

"That building is tired," Powers said. "It doesn't depict the image of what we want our City Hall to look like. The justice center there is an incredibly beautiful building, and City Hall needs to mirror that."

Brian Wargo can be reached at 259-4011 or by at wargo@lasvegassun.com.