MEDIA CONTACT: MARGARET KURTZ | 702.229.6993 | 702.249.1828
City Of Las Vegas Historic Westside School To Be Honored
With APWA
2018 Public Works Project Of The Year Award
$5-25 Million Historical Restoration/Preservation Category
The city of Las Vegas Historic Westside
School has been selected as one of the American Public Works Association’s Public
Works Projects of the Year for 2018 in the category of Historical
Restoration/Preservation, $5 million but less than $25 million. Plaques
recognizing the honor will be presented to the city of Las Vegas Public Works
team that managed the project, the project general contractor Whiting-Turner,
and the project architect, KME Architects, at the APWA annual Public Works Expo in Kansas
City, Missouri, Aug. 27.
“As the first elementary school in West
Las Vegas, the Historic Westside School holds many memories for longtime
residents,” said Ward 5 Councilman Cedric Crear. “It is wonderful to have the
school restored for the community to use and to see it’s restoration nationally
recognized.”
The Historic Westside School was built as the
Las Vegas Grammar School Branch No. 1 in 1923 and expanded in 1948, and both
buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was the only
grammar school on the west side of the railroad tracks until 1945 and the first
public school attended by Native American students from the neighboring Paiute
Indian colony. During the 1920s, Las Vegas was a racially diverse settlement
and public education was integrated. It is the oldest remaining schoolhouse in
Las Vegas.
The school’s two
buildings are located on a 2.84-acre campus at 330 and 350 W. Washington Ave. Work
began in January 2015 to return the original four-classroom building to its
1923 appearance inside and out. The 1948 annex building now looks much as it
did when it was built. But modern improvements, such as natural gas-powered air
conditioning, up-to-date electrical wiring, insulated windows, a secured and repaved
parking lot with 16 covered parking spaces, three electric car charging
stations and three bike racks, have replaced the chalkboards and desks. Both
buildings have been repurposed as potential meeting rooms, offices, shops and
exhibit space.
More
than 160 construction workers labored for 18 months on improvements. Plans for
restoring the historic school began as early as 2005, but were hampered by a
lack of funds. Rehabilitating the school involved painstaking historical
research, allowing contractors to restore floors, windows and walls to their early
appearance. Lighting fixtures no longer available had to be replicated from
photographs and approved by historic preservation experts from the Las Vegas Historic Preservation Commission, the State
Historical Preservation Office and the National Parks Service, since the school
is included on the city of Las Vegas Historic Property Register and the state
and National Register of Historic Places. The same was true for the school’s
entrance doors and built-in cabinets. Old carpet, padding and tiles were
removed to reveal the school’s original Douglas fir wooden flooring, and the
complex’s exteriors were returned to their original mint green.
The
structures closed as a school in 1966, although the buildings have been used
for other purposes since. Today KCEP Power 88 radio station, the Nevada
Preservation Foundation, Las Vegas School Uniforms and Tech Impact, a nonprofit
corporation that provides information technology job training for urban young
adults, have leased space in the school. However, there is still space
available to lease in both buildings.
The
entire school complex was renovated, including the 5,333-square-foot, Mission
Revival-style 1923 building; the 11,600-square-foot, Ranch-style annex building
and courtyard; parking lot and grounds. The city currently is seeking
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver certification for
the buildings, as well as seeking new tenants for the available spaces. Call
702-229-6551 or email jquisenberry@lasvegasnevada.gov
for more information on what is available to lease.
The
$12.5 million cost for rehabilitating the historic property was funded by the Commission for the Las Vegas Centennial, the city of Las
Vegas Redevelopment Agency and the city of Las Vegas, which also made
use of $4 million in gap financing supplied via the federal New Markets Tax
Credits program. See more about this historic rehabilitation by viewing a brief
video at https://youtu.be/X08st3zGHYk.
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Editor’s Note: Historic
photos and photos of the 2016 Historic Westside School rehabilitation at ftp://ftp.lasvegasnevada.gov/ls/files/Historic_Westside_School_Photos/
are available for download; no password is required.
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