Science museum vision to become clearer

Henderson council to appoint oversight board for $61 million project

Monday, March 9, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Museum in Henderson a step closer to reality (3-2-09)
City adopts plan for new museum (2-23-09)

Henderson will create a board of directors to oversee planning for a science museum that is being pitched as the centerpiece of a massive mixed use project.

The City Council is scheduled to appoint the nine-member board on March 17. It will guide the design and construction of the $61 million Henderson Space and Science Center.

Last month the City Council approved an initial plan for a 51,600-square-foot museum on 150 acres it owns near U.S. 95 and Galleria Drive.

The museum would be surrounded by shops, restaurants and condominiums.

The board will run a nonprofit foundation that raises money for the museum, said Andrea Primo, the city’s cultural arts and tourism director.

She said the board will likely include people with a background in the museum industry, attorneys and those experienced in finance.

Ownership of the building would depend on how much money the board raises and how much money the city contributes to the project, Primo said.

The city has applied for federal grants.

Henderson has been searching for a project to build community pride since the 1990s, when it attempted to lure major league baseball teams to the city for spring training camps.

The land it purchased for baseball has become the museum site.

The city projects the museum could draw 300,000 visitors annually.

“We are the largest metropolitan center that does not have a science center,” Primo said. “We’re very excited about it.”

• • •

North Las Vegas will open the Alexander Library and Park on Wednesday.

It will be the third library in the city of more than 220,000.

“We expect that it will be very busy given there are approximately 14,000 students in the immediate area,” said Kathy Pennell, library district director.

Within a 5-mile radius of the library and 2-acre park near Alexander Road and Martin Luther King Boulevard are eight elementary schools, two middle schools and two high schools.

The $12 million project includes a 16,400-square-foot building with a children’s section, a computer lab and 43,000 items.

The park includes shade structures, paved walking paths and gardens.

The library has been discussed in North Las Vegas for five years. It was considered in 2005, but the city decided to build its first library in 40 years in Aliante.

Some thought the decision was symbolic of city officials favoring new developments over the older downtown area.

Construction on the Alexander Library finally began in early 2007.

Plans for a fourth branch, in the planned community of Park Highlands north of the Las Vegas Beltway, have been scuttled because of the recession.

• • •

Former North Las Vegas Police Chief Mark Paresi has re-emerged in public life.

Paresi is one of four finalists for the top spot in the Tucson, Ariz., police department.

Paresi was removed from his post in October 2007 after six years with the department. He remained on the city payroll until the end of 2007 while a $49,000 severance package was negotiated.

North Las Vegas officials referred to it as a “separation.” Tucson media have referred to Paresi as “retired.”

In March 2008, the city named Joseph Forti, former deputy chief in command of detention and corrections, as chief.

North Las Vegas police sources had widely discussed Paresi’s inability to fit with the department after being by hired from the Portland Police Bureau in Oregon in 2002.

He upset many in the department when he hired at least two high-ranking officers from outside the department rather than promoting from within.

Tucson officials will interview the four candidates again in May.

Two of the other candidates are assistant chiefs with the Tucson department.

Paresi, again, is an outsider.

Discussion: 5 comments so far…

By local

3/9/09 at 6:33 a.m.

Suggest removal

$61 million for a science museum because we don't have one? I can't wait to move away from Henderson - the city is laying people off, offering severance packages, and crying about their money woes...but they are building a science museum to the tune of $61 million. Hooterville is back.
By 2zero

3/9/09 at 8:59 a.m.

Suggest removal

If Henderson wants to create its own identity and set itself apart, even above, with community pride...Henderson would be far better off if it invested in children and created it's own K-12 school district!
By lemon877

3/9/09 at 11:41 a.m.

Suggest removal

When people are getting laid off left and right (even at the city) it doesn't seem right to spend $61 million on a museum just because Henderson doesn't already have one.
By LasVegas2009

3/9/09 at 12:25 p.m.

Suggest removal

$61 million wow, Why not use that money to build a training facility to train unemployed people to do new jobs.
By nightmare

3/10/09 at 11:21 a.m.

Suggest removal

I hope the museum is built. I don't understand the nay-sayers out there. Are we as a city supposed to stop all future development of any type because today is not a perfect situation?

The museum is an investment in the community. It has the potential to generate positive returns and to help create much needed value. It will also create jobs. Jobs for planning, jobs for construction, and jobs to operate the development. Maybe those being laid off today can get some of these jobs.

How are we to ever advance out of our current woes by shooting down every possible new project??? Doing nothing cannot possibly be the answer to fixing the local economy.

« Previous Ten Next Ten »

Live chat: Tuesday, noon PST; Chat with Krista Creelman; Problem Gambling Center executive director Krista Creelman will answer questions about gambling addiction from Las Vegas Sun readers from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. ... Submit question