Henderson’s museum plan assumes rebound

By Mike Trask

Sunday, March 15, 2009 | 2 a.m.

This hardly seems the time for Henderson to spend $61 million on, of all things, a space and science museum.

The city is chopping tens of millions of dollars from its next two annual budgets, has paid 57 veteran city employees to retire early, is thinking of cutting overtime and encouraging workers to take unpaid days off, and is trying to keep the Legislature’s paws off the city’s dwindling tax revenues.

And, having said all that, the city is expected Tuesday to move forward with plans to develop a museum along the east side of U.S. 95, between Sunset and Russell roads.

The museum would be the focal point of an imaginative mixed-use development — maybe including other museums, relocating to the site from elsewhere in the Las Vegas Valley — that could incubate a science and research industry in the state’s second-largest city.

As for the timing of this idea: “If this were opening tomorrow it would be difficult,” said Councilman Jack Clark, who pitched the idea 15 years ago as a way to diversify Henderson’s economy.

But Clark and other city leaders say now is the perfect time to push forward on the Henderson Space and Science Center because, by the time it comes to fruition, the region will have pulled out of the recession and be primed for another growth boom. At least, that’s the plan.

They stress that use of taxpayer dollars will be kept to a minimum.

The 150-acre city-owned parcel has long been a place of dreams.

The city purchased the plot in the 1990s, hoping to lure Major League Baseball teams to the region for spring training.

But the plan never went further than early talks with a few teams, and the land remains unused.

Clark grew smitten with a science museum after visiting family-friendly museums elsewhere in the country, and the would-be baseball complex off U.S. 95 seemed a perfect site.

The idea got a boost when the city surveyed residents in 2007 about the type of cultural arts they wanted. The No. 1 choice: a museum.

Andrea Primo, the city director of cultural arts and tourism, says the Las Vegas Valley is the largest region in the U.S. without a science center.

On Tuesday the Henderson City Council is expected to appoint a nine-member board to oversee fundraising for the museum.

The next step will be creating a master plans for the site, adjacent to Central Christian Church, to determine zoning and design guidelines.

The total cost of a mixed-use development at the site, including condominiums, restaurants and retail businesses, and with entryways framed by public art, could be as much as $250 million. The $61 million science museum would be the only city-funded building, according to Clark and a study done by a team of consultants hired by the city.

The city’s museum board will form a foundation to oversee design and construction. Ownership of the museum would depend on how much money is raised and how much comes from city coffers.

There is some cash set aside for the project.

Henderson has about $25 million from land sales — including from the sale of a parcel on St. Rose Parkway that’s now the home of Cashman Equipment — that has to be earmarked for recreation purposes.

Additionally, the city would sell about half of the 150-acre parcel and could get roughly $1 million per acre, Clark said.

The city has applied for federal grants and hopes to get federal stimulus money. Also, the parcel is in a redevelopment area, so any increase in property tax revenue because of development could be reinvested in the area to further boost development.

But for now the Henderson Space and Science Museum exists only on paper, couched in words such as “iconic” and hinting how striking architecture would brand the site.

The project would feed Henderson’s image as an upscale suburban city that already boasts Lake Las Vegas, the Galleria at Sunset, The District in Green Valley and the new M Resort at the southern tip of the city.

“This brings another dimension,” Clark said. “We want our city to be a more attractive place to live, work and play than the guy next door.”

Yet it still has to deal with economic realities.

“I really want it to happen,” said Councilman Andy Hafen, “But realistically I don’t think we will be moving forward for some time.”

But the seed has been planted.

The museum would include an auditorium and a rooftop observatory. A consultant projects 300,000 visitors annually (100,000 more than visited the Springs Preserve in its first year).

It would include 35,000 children on fields trips, learning about desert living, Hoover Dam, the local magnesium industry and the environment in a state-of-the-art 51,600-square-foot building.

The city hopes to draw other museums to the site.

The Lied Discovery Children’s Museum has been exploring expansion and a move from its downtown Las Vegas location, and the Henderson site would be a sound option, said Lied spokesman Brock Radke.

Clark, who will leave office in June because of term limits, said he will stay involved in the project.

He sees it as a way of diversifying the economy and providing something for Southern Nevada’s children.

“We’ve done well with casinos,” Clark said. “We need to do more. This is one way for Nevada to be more.”

It just needs the market to cooperate.

“I’m not cynical enough to think our economy isn’t going to turn around,” Clark said. “Now is a time we can be planning this and getting it shovel-ready.”