Limestone will give Smith Center ‘elegant’ air

By Kristen Peterson

Friday, Oct. 24, 2008 | 2 a.m.

The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, less than three months from groundbreaking, says it has scrapped plans for its distinctive reddish exterior and a medium-sized theater.

The changes aren’t expected to delay construction on the $475 million arts complex in Union Park, the 61 acres of former rail yard in downtown Las Vegas. The project, which is being paid for by vehicle tax revenue and private funding, is scheduled to break ground in January and open in 2011.

The most visible change: swapping red Nevada metaquartzite for cream-colored Indiana limestone for its exterior.

The limestone is a more reliable building material, said Myron Martin, president of the Las Vegas Performing Arts Center Foundation. Concerns with the local stone included lasting aesthetic value, mismatched coloring and the ability to have it carved locally the way limestone has been carved and cut through time.

The limestone will give the building a vastly different aesthetic, changing its appearance from contemporary Southwestern to Old World and big city, common themes for designs by architect David M. Schwarz.

Schwarz originally wanted limestone for the Smith Center but changed to the indigenous stone quarried near Jean to help the building earn a LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Other aspects of the design are strong enough that the LEED certification shouldn’t be affected by the change, Martin said.

“At the end of the day, we ended up right back where we started,” Martin said. “We’ve always talked about this being a timeless, elegant building. Limestone gets us there.”

Martin said the decisions to make changes were not influenced by the economy.

A 650-seat theater, which was intended for the Nevada Ballet Theatre, won’t be needed, Martin said. Instead, the ballet company will move into the 2,050-seat main concert hall, which can accommodate its growing audience and live music. Construction of that mid-size theater was not scheduled to begin until 2011, after the main building and an education complex.

“In recent years, the ballet’s productions, including ‘The Nutcracker,’ have drawn growing audiences, stretching the limits of our current 550-seat theater,” said Beth Barbre, executive director of Nevada Ballet Theatre. The company performs at UNLV’s Judy Bayley Theatre, which doesn’t have an orchestra pit. “The Smith Center’s large hall will seat more than 2,000 guests and accommodate a large orchestra, allowing us to expand our productions and provide live music in collaboration with the Las Vegas Philharmonic.”

The main hall is planned as the home of the Philharmonic and for touring productions. The majority of performance groups will now choose between the main concert hall or the 300-seat cabaret-style theater. Plans also include a 200-seat studio, which would be available for rehearsals and community events.

“In situations where performances don’t draw a large enough crowd, the center would instead not sell or light the upper lobby,” Martin said. “If the ballet doesn’t need it and there’s not local theater big enough to fill 650 seats, then why do we need it?”

The medium-sized hall was going to anchor a $75 million third phase in the complex. Board members are discussing other civic uses for that area. The Las Vegas Art Museum was considering participating in the third phase with a new facility but is now looking elsewhere.