Land swap deal OK’d to bring new library to eastern Las Vegas

Two years from now, eastern Las Vegas will finally have a new library.

The City Council on Wednesday approved a complicated land swap deal that will see the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District build the $14 million library near Eastern Avenue and Charleston Boulevard while the Natural History Museum takes over the old Las Vegas Library near Cashman Field.

The city, which owns the future library site and the building that houses the museum, will give the district $7 million in cash and future New Market Tax Credits in exchange for the downtown Las Vegas Library site on Las Vegas Boulevard North.

That will allow the museum, a nonprofit operated by a 14-member board, to move into the newer, more spacious downtown library site once the library district has wrapped up construction on its new digs. Museum operators will get to stay rent free at their current, city-owned facility in the meantime.

After the museum moves out, the city hopes to use the mothballed museum building as a bargaining chip in talks to redevelop the decades-old, city-owned Cashman complex.

Students, nonprofit workers and architects have submitted more than 200 proposals to revamp the 70-acre baseball stadium and convention center site over the past year, including several that would see the complex fashioned into a park and one that would transform it into a semi-enclosed drone testing area.

City officials plan to choose a winner from 10 of the top blueprints this summer.

City Manager Betsy Fretwell called Wednesday’s land swap deal “a significant win for our whole community.”

Recently re-elected City Councilman Bob Coffin, who grew up on the east side of town and pushed for years to get a library in the area, sounded equally excited.

“This is the biggest thing that’s happened over there in years,” Coffin said. “We’re talking about an area that’s been underserved for almost two generations.

“It’s a winner for all of us, and we can be proud. I want to offer thanks in advance for not forgetting the east side of town.”

Contact James DeHaven at jdehaven@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3839. Find him on Twitter: @JamesDeHaven