There will be no 536-seat theater at the former Los Angeles Water and Power Building in Boulder City.
An advisory group for the Red Mountain Music Company decided this week that after months of complaints from neighbors and worries from preservationists, it would stop pursuing a plan to use the 68-year-old building as performance space.
People who live near the Nevada Way building said bringing more than 500 people to the mostly residential area would snarl traffic and create serious parking problems.
Preservationists said redesigning the building would diminish its architectural significance. The State Historic Preservation Office would have to sign off on any major changes.
The Water and Power Building, which once served as administrative offices for Hoover Dam operators, today has a small stage and offices for the music company, along with a food pantry, both of which use the city-owned space for free. The city also uses a courtyard for storage and houses its code enforcement department at the site.
The music company intends to move forward with a $10 million plan to build a theater but will look at other locations in the city, including one in a park near the city library, another on Adams Boulevard near the Boulder Creek Golf Course and a third on Veterans Memorial Parkway. Other possibilities include building a theater at Bootleg Canyon, a mountain bike park on the city’s north side.
The music group is expected to make a final decision on a location this month.
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This month Boulder City will open a series of zip lines that will carry the adventurous through Bootleg Canyon at 50 mph.
The City Council approved an agreement with Greenheart LLC last summer to build the aerial trail system of zip lines, in which daredevils strap themselves to a pulley suspended on a cable to fly through the park’s canyons. With that excitement they also will get a gorgeous view of Lake Mead.
The trails range from 1,150 to 2,550 feet. An entire tour of the area — complete with lessons on the desert ecosystem — covers more than a mile and lasts about two hours. Prices have not been set.
Greenheart LLC, an internationally known company that has built trails around the world, will maintain and operate the trails — the first zip line rides in Nevada, according to the city — for 15 years.
The company will pay Boulder City $130,000 annually and $10 per visitor, $5 of which will be set aside for improvements to the park.
The aerial trails are the latest outdoor offerings in Boulder City, which is adjacent to the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. In addition to Bootleg Canyon, the city leases land to groups running dirt bike and BMX tracks, owns a pair of golf courses and is home to an outdoor shooting range.
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Henderson will spend nearly $1 million to begin additions to the city’s detention center.
The upgrades will add from 200 to 300 beds to the 262-bed facility on Water Street.
Although the center has seldom reached capacity, averaging 185 inmates a day, officials say the move is proactive, given the expected growth of the city and the police department over the next decade.
Henderson, which now has 250,000-plus residents, expects to top 500,000 by 2025.
The money will be used to hire a consultant and request proposals for expanding the building. A final budget for the expansion has not been set. The city expects to hire a construction company this summer and begin building in 2009, aiming toward completion in 2011.
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