LOOKING IN ON: CITY HALL

Wednesday, March 28, 2007 | 7:07 a.m.

Las Vegas' fleet of alternative fuel vehicles is about to get two big additions.

The City Council approved an agreement March 21 to lease two hydrogen engine buses from Ford Motor Co . A federal grant will reimburse the city for the $250,000 annual cost of the two-year lease.

The buses will be the first operating west of the Mississippi River and will be among 12 in use in North America.

Dan Hyde, the city's fleet and transportation services manager, said Ford is eager to see how the buses perform here.

"This desert climate is perfect for data collection under extreme conditions," Hyde said.

The nine-passenger buses, expected to arrive this summer, will be used twice weekly to provide express service to the city's downtown outlet mall.

Las Vegas is a worldwide leader in alternative fuel research. Its hydrogen station on Ronemus Drive, where the buses will refuel, was the nation's first when it was built in 2002.

Renovations continue on the Post Modern Building, the historic site on Stewart Avenue that formerly housed a federal courthouse and U.S. Post Office.

The building is now covered in plastic because crews have removed all the windows to refurbish them as part of an estimated $32 million project to transform the structure into a cultural museum focusing on the city's history.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman has a special fondness for the building, having tried his first case as a lawyer there. Goodman, whose client list included prominent organized crime figures, has supported the inclusion of mobsters in the museum, saying they are an important part of the city's history.

Las Vegas received a $730,000 grant from the Nevada Division of State Lands to help with improvements on the Las Vegas Wash Trail.

The grant is for the section of the 20-mile trail extending from Owens Avenue to Charleston Boulevard. The rest of the $1.8 million project will come from city and Southern Nevada Land Act money.

More than 1,500 residents regularly use the footbridge that extends across the wash to Dell Robinson Middle School on Marion Drive, which is in the heart of the improvement project. Trail improvements will include seating and picnic areas, shade structures, trash receptacles, drinking fountains, bike racks and staging areas for trail users.

The wash provides habitat to more than 300 fish and wildlife species and almost 300 species of plants.