We hear alot of talk in Las Vegas about a renaissance of downtown with the coming Union Park, the Post Modern Museum, the Smith Center for Performing Arts, the East Fremont Entertainment District and we love the talk we are hearing.  It all sounds very wonderful, very urban, very 21st Century.

However, as we drive around the historic core of Las Vegas (Garces to Stewart, Main to Eighth) we are less excited.  This is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Las Vegas.  Many of the homes in this area date back to the late teens and the 1920s.  Years ago, lawyers bought many of the homes under the guise of saving them and turned them into law offices.

Today though, house after house, street after street is riddled with for sale signs and houses imprisoned behind chain-link fences waiting for their date with the wrecking ball.  To see so many in such a concentrated area is to fear for the longevity of this historical district.

We all agree that downtown is changing and evolving.  But many in the upper echelons of city government keep touting the idea of Las Vegas as mixed use condos and retail and many of these homes are endangered because the condo fever that has swept large cities like Las Vegas the last few years.  However, the condo market has cooled even in Las Vegas.  Our big fear is that these wonderful homes will be destroyed for nothing.  

The sad fact remains is that when they are gone, we can't rebuild them.  People talk about a historical district around the old Las Vegas High School (today the Performing Arts Academy) and it could be a wonderful reality in the years ahead.  Like all other large cities that promote their downtown, one of the things tourists in any town like to do is visit the old homes and see how the pioneer families lived.   

We have that district here in Las Vegas but we are in danger of losing it forever.  The continued destruction of these homes for large law offices and condo towers that may never get built is not only a sad testament to life in Las Vegas but the little regard that too many of us have for the stories of our past and our history.

Our history was made on these streets and in these homes.  Many of us of a certain age still mourn the loss of the Tudor homes that used to line the corner of Charleston Blvd and Las Vegas Blvd South.  Those were torn down almost forty years ago because we needed a parking lot.

I suspect that we will be mourning the loss of the majority of houses in the Las Vegas High School district and its adjacent neighborhoods very soon.

Why is it so hard to get people to care about not only their history but the preservation of that history as well? 

Built in 1915, may be the oldest house in Las Vegas today.

Built in 1927

Built in 1935

Built in 1938, being torn down tomorrow morning

One of the endangered ones

Slated for destruction

One of the last remaining railroad cottages.  Two were moved to the Clark County Museum in Henderson and two were moved to the Springs Preserve.

Thanks to RoadsidePictures (Allen Sandquist) for allowing us to post these images.

Enclosure

Well, last night was one for the cultural history of Las Vegas.  The Las Vegas Springs Preserve (the site where the water ran that made Las Vegas possible) had their gala grand opening last night.

I was escorted by Classic Las Vegas pals Dennis McBride, Brian "Paco" Alvarez and Allen Sandquist.  We were surrounded at every turn by many of the movers and shakers of Las Vegas, including Mayor Oscar Goodman, the Convention Authority's Rossi Rollankotter,  Jerry and Lois Tarkanian, Don Snyder, Bob Stoldal and his wife, Paula Francis, the Junior League's Dedee Nave, Helen Mortenson and the folks behind the various cultural museums in town:  Barbara Slivac, acting director for the State Museum David Millman, Tom Dwyer, the Cannon Aviation Museum director Mark Hall-Patton and representing City Cultural Affairs Richard Hooker.

You come down a ramp into the Preserve and are surrounded by rock formations.  We were told that the reason the rock formations seemed so familiar was because they had gone out to the Valley of Fire and done castings of the rock formations out there and recreated some of them here on the Preserve.  Atop those rock formations for this evening only, were members of the Cirque de Soliel.  Once inside there is a beautiful Amphitheater area with the stage butting up against a large rock formation.

The Springs is all about green buildings and they certainly kick this environmentally great idea up a major notch with straw bale construction, recycled paper and on site recycling bins.

The evening was catered by Wolfgang Puck Catering who also has the on-site restaurant concession.  There were a dozen food stations and bars and the food was excellent.  The dessert table was loaded with everything from cupcakes to truffles.  It was heavenly.

After all the speeches, folks were encouraged to visit the Visitors Center and other buildings to check out the exhibits.  The most popular one seems to be the recreation of a flash flood.

At twilight with a full mooning rising, the Las Vegas Philharmonic took their seats beside the stage and provided the music for the show put on by the Cirque.  There was the usual female singer except she was located atop the rock formation and surrounded by colored, swirling fog.  The drummers were up there too!  There were acrobats, fire dancers and a story about water performed by four young woman.  The highlight of the evening was the young female contortionist.

The three hours passed much too quickly but we all agreed on one thing:  Las Vegas now has a cultural heart and is located at the Springs Preserve.

The Springs Preserve is opening to the Public on Saturday, June 9th that includes a concert by Jewel.

For more information on the opening, the exhibits, the history and the mission of the Springs Preserve please visit their website:  www.lvspringspreserve.org.

For more news stories on the Springs Preserve read the Las Vegas Review Journal's In Depth section this weekend at www.lvrj.com

Also check out this webstory at www.lasvegasnow.com 

But most importantly, get over to the Springs Preserve on June 9th and check out where our history began! 

Stay tuned for updates over the weekend as we will be adding pictures (thanks Roadsidepictures), more info and more links!