Las Vegas welcomes new USO center at McCarran

A wall-sized photo of the famous "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign will greet traveling military personnel when they enter the new USO rest stop.

The long-awaited USO center opened Thursday at McCarran International Airport after nearly a decade of stalled attempts. It was billed as a center with a distinct Las Vegas look and feel.

Its debut was timed deliberately for Veterans Day. Several hundred people packed the new 2,830-square-foot lounge just outside the A and B gates, including elected leaders, members of the military, USO staffers, veterans, corporate donors and entertainer Wayne Newton.

Newton, a longtime USO supporter, said the center will not only act as a haven for those serving overseas, but a place where they can meet in private with loved ones.

"So many forget the families left behind," Newton said. "It brings a kind of comfort to them, too."

A mural of Newton was mounted on a wall, partly to pay tribute to his years of USO service and also to augment the center's Vegas motif.

On another wall, camouflage-clad troops are shown gathered around a guitar-strumming Toby Keith in Afghanistan, also part of the entertainment-capital-of-the-world theme.

"We wanted to give it a powerful punch," said Elaine Asal, an architect who helped design the interior. "It's such a fun space to work on because it's a nice cause."

An estimated 55,000 service members are expected to visit the center each year.

The USO earmarked about $1.2 million to renovate the former U.S. Airways executive suite and then staff it with two full-time employees for the first year.

The initial estimate for remodeling and furnishing the space was $800,000, but the project finished under budget, said Doug Bradford, the center's director.

The Cosmopolitan donated a high-definition television, and the Sands chipped in about $30,000 worth of furniture, Bradford said.

An entertainment room features a 60-inch TV with a dozen thick-cushioned chairs. The center also will stock 20 laptops along with DVDs and books.

A snack bar will serve beverages, cold snacks and microwavable food.

The space is too small to install showers or to set up cots, Bradford said. The center will close at midnight, so troops arriving late or stuck in the airport overnight can stay for free at Homeward Suites motel, he said.

"That's quite a gesture," Bradford said about the free lodging.

A group of "wounded warriors" were flown in for the opening.

Eli Tice, 20, a Marine lance corporal, traveled from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Tice said it was lonely being stuck overnight at an airport, especially en route to an overseas assignment. The USO center will remedy that, he said.

"It's great because you'll have someplace to go," Tice said. "You can go to the USO to hang out, get a bite to eat."

Royd Patterson, a sergeant major, recalls that when he was a young enlisted man, he had to sleep on his duffle bag during all-night layovers.

"I think it's critically important to have a place to go where there are other people like you," Patterson said.

The project had several false starts since it was first conceived seven years ago. Congressional delegates, county leaders, local veterans groups and the USO were credited with finally making it jell.

Chuck Lombardo, a veterans advocate, lopped off a long, gray goatee at the opening. He vowed in 2004 that he wouldn't cut his beard until the day the lounge opened.

"I never thought it would take six years," Lombardo said.

Contact reporter Scott Wyland at swyland@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.