URBAN UPDATE

Imagine attending performances and concerts featuring world-class artists, and sharing the experience with visitors from around the globe. Think of the benefits of an education center where local students can enjoy live performances as they learn about other cultures. Visualize a “green” area in the heart of the city featuring environmentally friendly design, construction and energy conservation, where commerce is thriving. Las Vegas has long been a tourist attraction for people in the United States and other countries. And with the development of 61-acre Union Park, it will be even more of a worldwide presence.

The Smith Center for the Performing Arts will be a top-notch cultural attraction, serving as home for The Nevada Ballet Theatre and The Las Vegas Philharmonic, as well as international entertainment and local opportunities for Nevada schoolchildren. In the tradition of famed opera houses and concert halls around the globe, the timeless stone construction of all three buildings will be a combination of styles, and will feature a carillon bell tower with a gleaming stainless-steel crown. The Center’s designers and builders aspire to make it the first major performing arts center certified by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.

“The Smith Center will contain a total of 379,000 square feet,” says Jennifer Clark, communications manager for the project. “With the adjoining Symphony Park, there will be possibilities for both outdoor and indoor entertainment that families can enjoy.” Its four-theater complex will provide cultural entertainment worthy of a world-class city. The main hall features state-of-the-art acoustics and will contain 2,000 seats where large music, theater and dance performances will thrill audiences from around the world. The proscenium theater, which is the traditional raised-stage design, will seat more than 600. The complex also contains a 300-seat cabaret-style theater, and a studio theater which seats 200 and will be used for performances, rehearsals and community receptions.

To increase the benefits to local students, The Smith Center has joined with the Clark County School District and the Culture Division of Clark County to participate in the John F. Kennedy Center Partners in Education Program. Both national and international artists will conduct workshops for teachers and students, offering a wide variety of performing arts opportunities.

The Smith Center will cost approximately $475 million, and is funded by both the public and private sectors. The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation contributed the first $50 million to establish an endowment, naming the Center after its chairman, Fred W. Smith and his wife Mary. They have since announced another $100 million challenge grant to further the development of the project. The City of Las Vegas, Clark County and the State Legislature worked in partnership on a car rental fee which will provide another $125 million. “Mayor Goodman has been very supportive of the whole project,” Jennifer comments. “The City of Las Vegas is also contributing the land, infrastructure, environmental cleanup and parking, valued at $50 million.” In the private sector, the Las Vegas Performing Arts Center Foundation is offering naming rights to community leaders who support the project. A community fundraising phase will allow local businesses, residents and even students to help support the Center, enabling the whole community to share in the sense of pride and ownership of this magnificent cultural achievement.

The project will break ground later this year and is to be completed by 2011, a very short time for an undertaking of this magnitude. As preparations and momentum for the project increase, more staff and more room are needed. On August 4, 2008, the offices of The Smith Center for the Performing Arts will move to the landmark Holsum Design Center in the Arts District overlooking Union Park. The restored building, which features distinctive electric signage, huge exposed beams and skylights, will offer plenty of room for staff as well as community activities and events. “Our Preview Center will open to the public in September,” says Jennifer, “and highlights interior and exterior mockups of The Smith Center. Visitors will be able to sit in a full-size mockup of one of the theater boxes, surrounded by a diorama of the entire theater.” It will be open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Las Vegas is steadily attracting more international visitors and residents, and the addition of The Smith Center for the Performing Arts celebrates the area as a cultural hub worthy of owning property and raising a family. This important addition to the community will bring people to the city for generations to come.

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