What’s going on with the land at Tropicana and Decatur?

Tuesday, March 3, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Mr. Sun,

Please explain the plot of land about a half-mile square at the northwest corner of Tropicana Avenue and Decatur Boulevard. It is fenced but otherwise remains untouched. Who owns it and are there any plans for it? It would seem to be a prime spot for development.

— Don Merz

•••

In one sense we all own the vacant 77-acre parcel on the northwest corner of Tropicana Avenue and Decatur Boulevard.

The Clark County assessor lists the owner as “USA.” In Southern Nevada, that means the Bureau of Land Management, which has fenced it to keep people from illegally dumping on the people’s property.

Eventually the fence will come down and a park and flood control basin will go up. Such facilities have been combined in a couple of valley locations.

The Lower Flamingo Wash Detention Basin and Tropicana/Decatur Community Park, as it’s known in official documents, will be funded by public land sales in Southern Nevada and local flood control money.

The county hopes to open the park by 2012. The state of the economy, however, has created some uncertainty as to when the land will be available to dog walkers and flood-

waters.

Questions for Mr. Sun should be sent to [email protected].