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Old saloon is at center of fight for town’s future
Owner of Goodsprings landmark at odds with locals who say 13 hotel rooms would change way of life
Sam Morris
The moon rises Thursday above the historic Pioneer Saloon in Goodsprings. The saloon was added to the State Register of Historic Places in 2007.
Sat, Jan 10, 2009 (2 a.m.)
Goodsprings residents Liz Warren, left, and Ruth Rawlinson stand across from the historic Pioneer Saloon, whose expansion they oppose, they say, for fear of the kind of clientele a hotel might attract. "We are plagued with revving motors through town all hours of the day and night," Rawlinson said.
Noel Sheckells, owner of the Pioneer, sits in the patio area that was closed because of zoning issues. Clark County commissioners denied his appeal Tuesday, and he withdrew his proposal to add a 13-room hotel.
Beyond the Sun
Goodsprings — Any true Western saloon has seen a few fights. The Pioneer’s deadliest was way back in 1915, when a crooked card game culminated in gunfire.
But the most important battle in the 95-year history of the bar may be the one shaping up right now.
In 2007 the old watering hole in this unincorporated town of about 200 was added to the State Register of Historic Places, and thanks to publicity on cable television shows and the Internet, it has been drawing an increasing number of visitors — so many, in fact, that the owner of the bar wants to add a small hotel and other amenities.
That plan has stirred up a fight that could determine the future of not just the bar but the entire town about 38 miles southwest of Las Vegas.
Townsfolk opposed to the bar owner’s plans say they aren’t against economic development. They just want it to come in a form that doesn’t draw more Hells Angels, Mongols and other bikers who no longer abide by the decades-old code not to interfere with town life.
Historian Liz Warren, chairwoman of the Goodsprings Citizens Advisory Council, also said there’s a question of whether there’s enough groundwater in these parts to support a plan by Pioneer owner Noel Sheckells to build a 13-room hotel.
But Sheckells, a 52-year-old Las Vegas businessman who paid about $1 million for the Pioneer in December 2006, doesn’t believe the opposition is really based on water or bikers. He says the problem is people too settled in their ways to accept change. And change is bound to occur, he said, even here at the base of Mount Potosi, seven miles west of Jean.
“There are two ladies in town who just don’t like anything to do with anything, especially the bar,” Sheckells said.
He stood amid a handful of customers Tuesday afternoon, a few hours after Clark County commissioners agreed with those ladies and denied his appeal for most of the changes he wanted to make. They didn’t deny his hotel because he withdrew it from consideration beforehand.
But among his supporters — his customers — he promised to resubmit his hotel plan and to push for permits to use the line of gas-fired barbecue grills that he installed behind the building prior to seeking the required county approval.
With the grills, Sheckells ran afoul of county rules out of ignorance, he said, and because he hurriedly installed them to accommodate a visit from Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman in July 2007, when hizzoner arrived in a limo with a showgirl to celebrate the saloon’s listing as one of Nevada’s historic places.
Sheckells said he will “fight to the bitter end” to win approval for his grills and the bigger changes he wants to make in the future.
“I’m not doing this to make money,” he said. “I figure I’ll never make money on it. I’m doing it to help the town, to preserve this place and to make it a place we can all be proud of.”
In the other corner, though, is a woman who has faced bigger foes — and defeated them.
In the 1970s with her husband, Claude, a UNLV emeritus anthropology professor, Warren made the federal government move a highway.
Shortly after moving to Las Vegas in 1969, the Warrens learned of plans to run a federal highway over the site of the spring that drew settlers to Las Vegas. They doggedly pressured federal highway authorities to stop or alter their plans.
The Warrens wrapped the feds up in their own red tape, forcing them to change the highway’s route, saving an area that today is Springs Preserve.
Today, Warren and some neighbors say they are trying to save what remains of their town’s peace and quiet.
For years that’s what they had, even when Don Hedrick Sr. ran the Pioneer starting in the wild and woolly 1960s. Most townies believe Don was a prominent member of the Hells Angels or some other motorcycle gang. Respect for him, along with a healthy dose of fear, kept visiting bikers from raising heck or driving from the bar, which is on the western edge of Goodsprings, into the town.
“He wouldn’t stand for bikers going into town,” said resident Monica Beisecker, also an advisory council member. “He ruled with an iron fist. Mongols and Hells Angels never fought when they came here. It’s neutral territory.”
It was Hedrick, in a fit of anger, who put the two bullet holes in the bar’s pressed tin walls, Biesacker said.
Hedrick was “gruff and mean as a snake but he had a soft heart,” according to Warren’s partner-in-protest Ruth Rawlinson, the second of Sheckells’ “two ladies.”
“He ran for and won the constable’s seat for several terms. He ran the ambulance service for years. He was on our first advisory board. He cared deeply for this town,” Rawlinson said.
Though Hedrick’s son wasn’t as much a part of the town after he took over the Pioneer in the 1990s, the peace remained.
Rawlinson said Sheckells’ ownership is a different story.
Since he bought the place, she says, Harleys frequently rumble by the smattering of homes and rusted farm equipment in the yards and desert patches that make up Goodsprings.
“We are plagued with revving motors through town all hours of the day and night,” Rawlinson said. “We can’t sit in the back yard.”
Sheckells, she said, “doesn’t care.”
Sheckells is flabbergasted at the accusation that he has been an absentee, negligent landlord. Yes, he did spend 26 weeks in Asia last year tending to his new tour agency with offices in the Phillippines and Thailand, but he has been to several Goodsprings town meetings.
“And I felt like I was going to be tarred and feathered,” he added.
As for being part of the community, before he arrived, the bar had created a group that donates thousands of dollars worth of toys to children at a Las Vegas hospital each year, he said. This year they bought school supplies for kids in Sandy Valley and Goodsprings.
The money he spends on the Pioneer is something of a donation, too, as Sheckells sees it, because he knows he’ll never make it back. He says he does it because he cares about the town, and as much about the history of Goodsprings as Warren does.
“The Pioneer is going to be around a lot longer than I am, or longer than any of the people who are against it,” he said. “I’m trying to preserve the history of the place, and bring back some of what was lost.”
On Tuesday the handful of people drinking in the afternoon sun on the front porch of the Pioneer — in violation of yet another county ordinance — supported Sheckells.
“A lot of people out here don’t have jobs unless Noel gives them something to do. The guy has done more for this town since he bought this bar than anyone who has lived here,” said “Prison” Ed, a 65-year-old career Navy man in a black leather trenchcoat. He is also a retired prison worker, hence the nickname.
Another customer who lives as “a hermit” outside of town was more ambivalent. Drinking his beer, Steve, who would not give his full name, said the Pioneer is just fine as it is. He doesn’t begrudge Sheckells for trying to add on, but he fears a hotel could turn into a nest for drug dealers, prostitutes and others looking to make a quick buck.
“Scum,” he called them.
Sheckells wants to replicate the two-story hotel built by George Fayle, the Clark County commissioner who also built the Pioneer and the general store next to it in 1913. The hotel burned to the ground in 1966.
“Wouldn’t that be cool up here?” Sheckells said, pointing to a black-and-white photo of Fayle’s hotel on the wall of the bar’s pool room. “That would be my gift to the town.”
Sheckells figures the hotel could also keep drunk drivers off the road. If anyone imbibed too much at the Pioneer, they could walk next door and check in for the night.
With the saloon’s regular appearance on television shows about unique destinations or haunted buildings — Sheckells swears he and his daughter one cold morning saw a pizza pan mysteriously fly off the top of the bar — the Pioneer has become a mecca for L.A. hipsters, motorcyclists and others seeking respite from the modern and urban.
“It’s like a county fair up here every weekend,” Sheckells said.
Rawlinson and Warren, though, counter that the entertainment of outsiders is not their charge in life.
They also balk at accusations they are against development. They are for it, they insist. They even have a plan to draw a different type of biker to Goodsprings. They’re pushing to turn old rail lines into bike trails linking their town to Jean.
“For years, it’s only been the bar that’s attracted outside folks,” Warren said. Getting a trailhead here, she said, might encourage someone to open a bike shop, maybe a coffee shop. “We’d like to have those who are of a different frame of mind about why they come to Goodsprings.”
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What a joke. Here's a guy not only trying to keep a landmark alive but improve it and everywhere he turns they block him. Who cares if there are tables outside to drink? 13 room hotel? There was already one there!
I'd like to see those of us in support of a minor improvement in the Pioneer go out there more often in support. The "women" who oppose this say they want to save their town. I say I want more recreation in my County. I'm sure that my taxes, state and otherwise, go to Goodsprings.
Sorry, but I am just sick and tired of the minority in this country getting their way and the politicians and media supporting them.
I have to agree with residents that don't want an expansion for one reason.
Who wants any noisy motorcycles driving through a small community like this? Not everybody loves noise, I sure don't, and I ride motorcycles.
People have a right to quiet in their homes.
We need the noise laws to be enforced here in Vegas also.
If the residents of Goodsprings wanted noise and commotion, I'm sure they'd move 40 miles away to Las Vegas. They live in Goodsprings to get away from the crazyness of the city, and they'd like to keep their community quiet and peaceful.
I would like to state some of the reasons I am opposed to the expansion of the Pioneer Saloon. Yes I am one of the ladies!! When Joe contacted me and said he was writing an article he said he wanted to show both sides. What a joke!! A balanced article would have detailed the extensive changes and additions to this 1.4 acre property. Publishing the site plan would clearly show the extent of Noels proposals. I explained that the noise we have been having was a problem but that the real reason was lack of water in this basin. The State Water Engineer has declared this basin a critical ground water basin. Most of the residents have had to deepen their wells over the years and our annual recharge is only 1/4 or less of our actual usage. The density that Noel wants will impact the water and the septic system for such an expansion could also impact our groundwater. He only has 1.4 acres to expand and everything that he wants needs a waiver as it does not conform to county codes. Most of us live here to enjoy peace and quiet, cooler weather, no smog, a place where our children can be safe, friendly neighbors that help each other, etc. Noel states in previous articles in the Sun (12/10/08 & 12/13/08) that he doesn't want to change anything, well he sure changed his mind quick. We had several town meetings about this and the majority expressed that they did not want this development. There was 43 people at the last Council meeting who agreed with the Advisory Council board to ask the Commissioners to deny this application, 3 were against a blanket denial and 1 was undecided. Also a petition turned in to the Clark County Board of Commissioners had 42 signatures asking them to deny the application of Noel Sheckells. Noel is kidding himself if he thinks that there are only 2 ladies opposing him. Sheckells argument is based on how historic the property is, his respect for the history is nil. He uses the history as a marketing tool and changes it to suit his own purposes and ignores it when it gets in the way.
Living in NW Wisconsin means that I know diddly about you folks out there, but I'm pretty sure we share the issue of overinflated property taxes. If its your land, you should be allowed to develop without government telling you otherwise. It is sort of like that couple in suburban L.A. that got fined for hanging up their clothes on a line in their backyard because it violated some "eyseore violations."
I am a resident of Goodsprings,and I live here because I enjoy the peace and quiet.I am sure you all have reasons why you live where you live also.I want to address some issues with this newspaper article,first it is one of the worst and most incorrect I have seen in a while.The situation with the bar is being led away from the real problem, and people are getting side tracked from the real issue.The problem is not the bikers.The real issue is we want to continue living in Goodsprings where it is peaceful and quiet and enjoy our lives.The story states there are 2 women,there was actual a petition with over 40 signatures of people who live in Goodsprings who are against expansion of the bar and the building of a hotel,there would have been more but due to unforseen events the petition was only passed along 1 day prior to the county meeting.Mr Sheckles states that what he is trying to do is for historical reasons and to give a gift back to the community.If this were correct he would leave the bar as it is to preserve it historical values.And as far the hotel he wants to build, if you want to be historical correct, then he should replace it in the same spot as the original hotel and since he is doing this out of the goodness of his heart as a gift to Goodsprings why doesn't he agree to donate all profits to the town to be used as the residents agree upon to provide for our community. That would be great except for the fact that Goodsprings already has water issues and to build this hotel would only endanger the residents water more at this time.I have alot more to add to this, but its getting late and I have to deal with 50 bikers and all the other people in the morning that have been misinformed about why the residents of Goodsprings are trying to save their community
FallonSouth your comments are so stupid. You really must be drinking a lot of that tainted Fallon tap water. Goodsprings is a TOWN, not just a neighborhood, I'm sure that gating the whole town is not an option. But not adding businesses that will disrupt the small town's quiet atmosphere is an option that the residents have every right to exercise.
I have lived in Goodsprings my enire life and I love my town. Since this is a small town I would like to see the improvements at the bar happen. I think having some form of entertainment other than just getting hammered is an awesome idea.Theres not much else out here. People should be able to get together and grill out back. Also being the small town it is, drinking on the front porch isnt a problem. The only thing I am opposed to would be the hotel. I strongly dont think we need it and I do not want it, the hotel would not be an improvement.
So now the people who live there are White Separtists? Why - have they prevented other races from moving in? Maybe a bunch of white people bought their homes years ago, like it there, don't want to sell and there's no residential homes available? Unless there are homes for sale and other races are somehow being prevented from buying them it is very unfair to label these people as separatists or to even mention the KKK in a post.
FallonSouth, I don't believe LT2LV said you were stupid, just your comments were, and you just reinforced what he said by your last comments. 1. Mr. Sheckells is a white male no different then what you pointed out to be the largest group in the town. 2.Mr. Sheckells didn't spend a million dollars to purchase the Pioneer Saloon. 3. If he has spent as much as you say he has to fix up the place, then that is his own fault,he should have gotten the required permits before he took it on his own to think he could just come into this little town and do whatever he wanted. 4. I couldn't disagree with you more when you said he made it a fun place for everyone, because if that were true you wouldn't have so many people upset, And I believe that is what the people are trying to do is relax and enjoy their lives, they bought their homes in Goodsprings for a reason, if they wanted a more entertaining lifestyle they could have a bought a home somewhere else,I mean why should they have to worry about their children being able to walk to the park or about what his expansion could to their water, do you live there?I mean it sounds like all that matters to you is that Mr. Sheckells gets what he wants and that you be entertained and if the residents don't like it tough luck.And as far as MYHOME goes there are grills and tables with shade at the park (I am sure you know this as you state you have lived in Goodsprings all of your life)where people can get together and relax and enjoy each others company without getting hammered,and if you want to go and relax there is a really nice church in Goodsprings, I am sure that they would welcome you with open arms and you may even be surprised by all the entertainment that you could get there.Like I said before your comments are irrelevant to why the people of Goodsprings don't what expansion in their town.They are just trying to protect their water and live their lives the way they like, and they aren't doing anything that could hurt or impact as many people as what Mr. Sheckells is trying to accomplish for his profit only.
Thank you PSG for your great comments!!! After speaking with some people who work at the bar, I've found out that Fallon South or Moanin Black Snakes Rock is part of a band that blasts out music from the bar. He is just worried that he may not be able to make a buck from Noel. We are not opposed to Noel having music IN the bar, just outside where it can be heard throughout the whole town. If I want to go to the bar and listen to music I will and if I want to work in my garden or have a cookout in the backyard with friends, then I would like to select my own music. He is incorrect about the population which is just about 200 people and yes most are white Americans. No one has ever said no other races can live here, in fact anyone who can buy or rent is welcome.