Emergency Arts opened site to come to aid of community

Before serving as a cornerstone of a burgeoning community, the Emergency Arts building on the corner of Sixth and Fremont streets served the neighborhood in a similar way.

Upon completion on April 7, 1952, the building was JCPenney's third attempt at opening in downtown Las Vegas. At the time, it was said to be the largest department store in the state and the only one with a freight elevator.

"It still works, and it's fantastic," said Jennifer Cornthwaite, owner of The Beat Coffeehouse and Records and Emergency Arts, both housed in the building.

The department store was scheduled for a 1950 opening but was delayed two years due to the construction of the Nevada Test Site, according to local historians.

The department store also provided the mannequins and clothing for testing the bomb blasts. Thirty days after the tests, the surviving mannequins were brought back to the store and put on display in the front windows, according to local historians.

The building, owned by the Epstein family - current owners of the El Cortez - falls under the control of Alexandra Epstein, executive vice president of the El Cortez.

The company's human resources, information technology and accounting departments have been housed in the building for about 10 years, according to Epstein.

Converted into a medical clinic in the early '80s, the Fremont Medical Center provided, among other things, drug testing to prospective hires of the surrounding casinos, including the El Cortez.

"When I moved back home to work for the family, I remember being drug-tested in that building," Epstein said.

As a department store, the building was part of a bustling commercial center that faded after the opening of the Boulevard Mall, 3528 S. Maryland Parkway. As the Fremont Medical Center, the building played an important role in the community. But as a coffeehouse and art gallery, Cornthwaite said the building is regaining some of the energy lost over the years.

"I certainly think that Fremont Street in the '50s, '60s and early '70s was the hub of most shopping and family outings," Epstein said. "The hub of the community was here. People that grew up in Las Vegas during these times are always telling lovely stories about their moms taking them shopping, or sibling stories. I feel like Emergency Arts has some of that hub energy."

Cornthwaite said she sees the building as more than just a place to have coffee, that it holds meaning with and makes connections to those who interact there.

"I saw someone taking engagement pictures through The Beat window a few months ago, and I almost started crying," she said. "It was really touching that people had either met or fell in love there and that they would include that space in photos."

Despite the coincidence in the name Emergency Arts, Cornthwaite said it is not a nod to previous tenants but to the blight in Fremont East district.

"Emergency Arts was my attempt at the immediacy of our problem when we conceptualized the project," she said. "We needed something to happen, something significant to jump-start something. At the time, there had not been a business open in over 17 months in Fremont East, and there was not anything on the books. It was an emergency that we do something."

For Epstein, the growing sense of community at that intersection is something her family has been working toward for the past decade.

"Everyday life is coming back to the neighborhood," she said. "You see it in the people walking their dogs, in the children in strollers, the people stopping in for a cup of coffee."

Epstein added that it has been a joy to see the area coming full circle, back to the days of a commercial gathering "hub."

"The transition has been remarkable," she said. "To play a big role in the revitalization of downtown has been rewarding."

Contact Paradise/Downtown View reporter Nolan Lister at nlister@viewnews.com or 702-383-0492.