boulder city:

Residents asked for input on fate of historic buildings

Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009 | 4:11 p.m.

The Bureau of Reclamation, which owns two of the oldest building in Boulder City, will ask Boulder City residents for feedback on those buildings.

The forum, scheduled for 1 to 4 p.m. Jan. 27, will be at building 1300 of the Date Street Complex.

Building 100 of the Date Street Complex, a 1941 office built for the Bureau of Mines Metallurgy Research Laboratory, has been stripped to its crumbling walls after the Bureau of Reclamation began renovation to repair what it said was asbestos problems and unsound walls.

Historic groups objected to the destruction. After Preserve Nevada, a UNLV-partnered program, added the Date Street building to its "Eleven Most Endangered Historic Places" for 2008 and 2009, the bureau stopped its excavation, leaving the walls standing behind a fence.

The bureau has no current plans for proceeding with the building, Cindy Hoeft, the bureau's environmental compliance group manager, said.

Residents also complained to the bureau after it began taking out grass at its Administration Building on Park Street, one of the first buildings in Boulder City. Grass was required on all homes and buildings in the town's early days, and residents consider it part of the building's historic nature.

"We recognize the historic values of the Boulder City Historic District and the importance of working with the local community to maintain the integrity of the district as much as possible," Deputy Lower Colorado Regional Director Terry Fulp said in a statement.

Mayor Roger Tobler said he is glad the bureau is asking for the community's say. He said he often gets phone calls from residents concerned about both buildings.

"We actually do think historical things are important in Boulder City," he said.

The bureau is holding the public meeting as part of a review process to comply with the Nevada Division of Cultural Affairs' State Historic Preservation Office .

Cassie Tomlin can be reached at 948-2073 or cassie.tomlin@hbcpub.com.