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Happy New Year!
It was an exciting and eventful 2023 in the Historic Westside, with HUNDRED Plan in Action projects progressing, new funding announced, new businesses opening their doors and significant celebrations! We wanted to take a moment to share some highlights from 2023 and provide a sneak peak of what’s to come in 2024:
2023 Accomplishments
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African American Museum and Cultural Arts Center: A $250,000 master plan funded by the city of Las Vegas was completed at the end of 2023, paving the way for efforts to secure funding and design the facility.
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Mario’s West Side Market Expansion: A newly expanded Mario’s West Side Market opened in 2023 to rave reviews. The newer, larger market features a new bakery, more fresh produce and participates in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
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Jackson Avenue Complete Street Improvements: The $7 million infrastructure project was completed August 2023 and officially opened Sept. 8, 2023; Includes complete infrastructure improvements, widened sidewalks, improved pedestrian crossings, new lighting, new trees and bicycle lanes.
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Jackson Avenue Redevelopment Support: The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) awarded the city a $1.3M grant to support the redevelopment of Jackson Avenue, with a city match of $328,000. The grant funding will support private property owners in developing/redeveloping their properties and opening businesses within them. The intent is to avoid displacement and keep ownership of Jackson in the hands of local/legacy owners. Work begins on the grant this month.
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Business Opportunity Success and Sustainability (B.O.S.S.) Small Business Development Program Launched: The B.O.S.S. Program - facilitated by the city of Las Vegas - was designed to help Historic Westside Small Businesses help their companies grow and establish a solid sustainability plan. More than 85 entrepreneurs participated in the B.O.S.S. program workshops in 2023 with the only prerequisite being that companies must conduct or desire to conduct business on the Historic Westside.
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Historic Westside Urban Farm: The Farm – consisting of two fully-enclosed growing containers at a total cost of $1 million (funded via a $500,000 contribution from MGM Resorts International and a match from the city of Las Vegas) – opened April 2023 and food is being distributed to the Historic Westside community via senior centers on a weekly basis. To date 1,479 pounds of food has been distributed; Several additional urban agriculture projects (both city-led and private-sector initiated) are under development.
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Historic Westside School: The school celebrated its 100-year anniversary in September 2023 with a large community party! Recent investments have activated it as a community center and workforce/small business hub, including the Historic Westside Design Center, which opened in March 2023. The design center provides a community space for learning about the work under way in the Historic Westside and features a history wall, a community imagery wall and information about all the projects proposed for the Historic Westside.
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Holiday Lights and Decor Doubled Along Martin Luther King Blvd.: The city doubled the number of lit ornaments along Martin Luther King Boulevard to create more community holiday cheer. We thank Cox Communications for once again kicking off the holidays by hosting us to flip the switch.
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Exciting Projects to Come in 2024
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College of Southern Nevada Westside Education and Training Center: This $20 million, 15,000 square foot, new facility is expected to break ground in the early quarter of 2024. The center will provide workforce training in fields of tech and trades. The project was funded by a $6.9 million EDA grant, $3.9 million from the state of Nevada and $9 million from the city.
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SHARE@Downtown Westside Project: A new housing project – the first new housing to be built in the Historic Westside in decades – will break ground by fall 2024 and will feature 104 workforce housing units and 10,000 square feet of commercial space.
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Market Hall Incubator: A unique food market hall that serves as an incubator for restaurant-based businesses is set to open in coordination with the SHARE Downtown Westside project. The incubator will be located in the first floor of the building and operated by the city of Las Vegas. The city is currently working on a buildout and operations plan.
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New West Las Vegas Library: Construction of a new library for West Las Vegas begins in March 2024. The new facility will more than double the current library’s available space.
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Culinary Innovation Programs at the Historic Westside School: A Culinary Training Program for system-impacted youth funded by a $1.8 million EDA grant launched with mobile facilities at the Historic Westside school in late 2022; Buildout of a café and outdoor cooking space at the school is in progress.
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Single Family Housing Infill: Development partners for 12 housing lots owned by the city were selected by a Request for Proposals process (RFP) in 2022 and are going through entitlements/agreements; another 13 lots will go out for RFP in the next 1-2 years. A total of more than 75 new housing units is anticipated from these developments with development beginning this year.
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Marble Manor Housing Redevelopment: The city is working with the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority to submit a large Choice Neighborhoods grant that would provide significant funding to redevelop the aging public housing site to nearly triple amount of housing (at a mix of incomes), and add parks and community space.
West Las Vegas Library to Break Ground Next Month
The city of Las Vegas and the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District will break ground on the new library for the Historic Westside on Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 10 a.m. at 1861 N. Martin Luther King Blvd. The new library will be two stories and approximately 41,000 square feet in size, doubling the library’s current size and providing space for employment readiness, small business development, digital literacy, English language instruction, cultural performances and community gatherings.
More news about the West Las Vegas Library can be found here:
City Receives $1.3M Grant to Support Jackson Ave. Redevelopment
In late September, U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen announced $1.3 million in federal funding from the EDA to support private sector development on historic Jackson Avenue. The funding will provide technical support to owners of property on Jackson Avenue to reimagine and redevelop their lots and buildings from concept to reality.
More new about the funding for Jackson Avenue can be found here:
Obodo Collective Continues to Make an Impact in the Historic Westside
The Obodo Collective is a 501(c)(3) non-profit focused on bringing structural, ongoing support to the Historic Westside. The Collective invested in the Obodo Urban Farm (located at 1300 C. Street) in 2023 and continues to find ways to support the Historic Westside community including a commitment to open a green grocer in 2024, and a partnership with the Las Vegas Super Bowl LVIII Host Committee.
More news about the Obodo Collective can be found here:
Historic Westside Youth Get To Visit Lee Canyon
Thirty Historic Westside youth were able to visit Lee Canyon for their first ski and snowboard lesson thanks to Sierra Snow Gliders and the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority.
The Las Vegas club, which is an African American ski club from Las Vegas and a chapter of the National Brotherhood of Snowsports, provided the children with winter clothing, equipment, transportation, food, and ski/snowboarding lessons, while members spent the day helping them navigate the slopes for the first time.
More news about this adventure can be found here:
Little Steps Early Learning Academy Addresses ‘Daycare Desert’ in the Historic Westside
A new daycare that opened earlier this fall in the Historic Westside is hoping to provide additional, affordable daycare options for families in the area. Little Steps Early Learning Academy is located near Martin Luther King Boulevard and Owens Avenue and was started by Kimber Wright, who operated a daycare from inside her home starting in 2015 after working for Clark County School District as a substitute teacher. You can learn more about Little Steps here.
More news about the daycare can be found here:
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Black-Owned Bookstore Opens in the Historic Westside
The first local Black-owned bookstore to open in the Historic Westside in over a decade made its grand debut to the public in November. The store is known as Multicultural Books Las Vegas and is located in the Historic Westside Kingdom Plaza. The store sells books for all ages in all genres.
More news about the bookstore can be found here:
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Fire Burns Former New Town Tavern on Jackson Avenue
One of the last remaining recognizable buildings from Jackson Avenue’s heyday burned to the ground in October and was deemed a total loss by the Las Vegas Fire & Rescue Department. The former New Town Tavern on the corner of Jackson Avenue and F Street opened and closed several times since the 1950s and also experienced a few name changes, but for decades it was a prominent establishment lining Jackson Avenue, a thoroughfare that was once the westside's commercial district. The New Town Tavern became the gathering spot for many blacks in Las Vegas during the era of segregation and featured a casino.
More news about the New Town Tavern fire can be found here:
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A Bigger, Better Mario’s West Side Market Opens in the Historic Westside
The new Mario’s Westside Market - located at 1425 W. Lake Mead Blvd. – held its grand opening in late October. The new market is located across the parking lot from the former market building, which launched Mario’s in 1997. The new location is significantly larger and was remodeled with the support of American Rescue Plan Funds from the city of Las Vegas and Clark County.
More news about the reopening of Mario’s Westside Market can be found here:
Community Helps Celebrate the 100 Year Anniversary of the Historic Westside School
This fall, the community joined in to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the Historic Westside School with a parade and festival honoring residents past and present. The event welcomed hundreds and featured speakers, dancing, entertainment and commemorations.
More news about the Historic Westside School 100 year anniversary. can be found here:
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Neighborhood Housing Services of Southern Nevada Renovates Historic Home, Helps Others
A $160,000 grant from Wells Fargo is helping to fund the construction of homes in the Historic Westside and also helped to renovate the home of a late 19th-century activist's granddaughter. This fall, Wells Fargo volunteers and Neighborhood Housing Services of Southern Nevada renovated the home of Alfreda Ferrell, who is the granddaughter of African-American journalist and civil rights activist Ida B. Wells-Barnett. Work on additional homes will begin this year.
More information on these projects can be found here:
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