Cost to prepare Riviera site for exhibition space, parking rises by $1.6M

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority’s plan to prepare the Riviera site for outdoor exhibition space and parking has jumped in cost by more than $1 million.

The LVCVA’s Las Vegas Convention Center District committee and the organization’s board of directors on Tuesday will consider a $1.6 million increase to a $42 million contract with W.A. Richardson Builders, the contractor hired to demolish the Riviera and prepare the area for outdoor exhibits and parking before a major convention in March.

“Due to the ground contamination being significantly higher than originally anticipated, this is an unforeseen expense that will be incurred outside of the contingency fund,” an LVCVA spokesman said in an emailed statement Saturday. “We are working closely with the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection to ensure proper remediation and have applied for reimbursement of expenses through the Nevada State Petroleum Cleanup Fund.”

The convention authority acquired the Riviera for $182.5 million in February 2015, launching a plan to close the hotel-casino and raze the building and ready the grounds in time for the ConExpo-Con/Ag construction equipment trade show that begins March 7.

The Riviera was closed in May 2015, and the authority hired Cordell Corp. to manage the site and eventual construction of a $1.4 billion expansion and improvements to existing convention facilities while revenue is generated with outdoor exhibits on the site.

Richardson won a competitive bid and was awarded the contract in April and oversaw the implosion of two Riviera towers on June 15 and Aug. 16.

Richardson officials discovered contaminated soil around four underground diesel fuel storage tanks on the site after the first of the buildings was demolished.

The contractor in March 2015 provided soil samples by boring into ground around the tanks, and a report commissioned by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) estimated that 430 tons of contaminated soil would have to be removed.

But once excavation began in August after some of the Riviera buildings were gone and a Richardson consultant began conducting soil toxicity reports, it became clear that there was more contamination than originally expected.

The contractor and consultant met with NDEP and determined that there was 23 times more contaminated soil — 9,980 tons — than originally estimated by the agency.

The soil was removed from the site by Aug. 23, but now the convention authority must approve the additional cost of removing the additional dirt.

Richardson said the contaminated soil was moved to an offset facility licensed to to perform remediation in accordance with local, state and federal regulations.

The LVCVA and its property management consultant have applied to the state’s Petroleum Cleanup Fund, which has a program that offsets the cost of soil remediation by as much as $1 million per storage tank.

Officials say there’s no guarantee that the state fund would pick up the cost. It’s expected to take the fund’s governing board 12 to 18 months to act.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.