City officials look for ways to redo Cashman Center site

City and tourism officials are looking for ideas for redoing Cashman Center -- in fact, the site could be completely reworked and ultimately might not even have a baseball stadium.

"The idea would be to see if there's someone out there interested in developing the site," said city of Las Vegas spokesman David Riggleman. "We'd love to see what some developer out there might envision for that site.

"We're open to anything at this point."

On Wednesday, the Las Vegas City Council approved an agreement with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to seek proposals for the 50-acre site.

The convention authority, which owns and operates Cashman, is set to approve the agreement Aug. 12.

The agreement won't affect the existing lease of the Las Vegas 51s baseball team, which uses the 9,300-seat stadium. It also says that any proposal must include a baseball stadium, either at the Cashman site or somewhere else in the valley.

The current site, at Las Vegas Boulevard and Washington Avenue, is home to the stadium, a 534,000-square-foot convention center and parking lots.

The city essentially gave the property to the convention authority in 1981. Under terms of the agreement, the city eventually would reclaim the property.

Cashman Center opened in 1983.

"While it's been a great facility, it's not ideal anymore," Riggleman said. "It's about 25 years old now."

Vince Alberta, a spokesman for the convention authority, said the age of the facility and the fact that the 51s' lease expires in 2010 makes this a good time to look at options for the property.

"Everybody wanted to see what the opportunities were for that particular site," Alberta said.

A representative of the Las Vegas 51s could not be reached for comment.

According to the agreement, the city will analyze the site and potential uses, including "a professional baseball stadium and facilities, an urban medical center, a mixed-use urban village, an international market and exposition complex, a civic/government center, cultural facilities or an educational or university campus."