Military airport lounge sought

Local leaders and veterans’ groups want to jump- start a stalled effort to create an airport lounge where members of the military can congregate, wash up and sleep.

“I felt bad that our military personnel who are putting their lives on the line have no place to stay,” Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak said. “They have to sleep on the floor.”

The latest push to provide a place to accommodate traveling service members appeared to gain political steam at an informal meeting Friday led by Sisolak.

Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev. and former state Sen. Bob Beers attended as well as aides to Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., and Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev. Veterans’ representatives also participated.

Officials hope to set up the rest stop in a former suite in Terminal 1 that U.S. Airways vacated in September. County commissioners, who must approve the project, are set to discuss it Tuesday.

The goal is to create a temporary lounge there and then persuade McCarran officials to build a permanent one later in Terminal 3, said Peter Christoff, a retired Marine.

This facility is already furnished and equipped with a kitchen area, food counter, restrooms, children’s play areas and open spaces to sleep, Christoff said.

“All it takes is $50,000 to get it going,” Christoff estimated.

The United Service Organizations estimated it would cost $3 million to $6 million to open a USO outlet at the airport, said Chuck Lombardo, a veteran who has worked several years to launch the project.

“None of those numbers ever made sense,” Lombardo said of the high price tag.

Service members who are going off to war need a private area for themselves and their loved ones, Lombardo said. “You have families in there crying. Why should they be in public view?”

Most people at the meeting agreed to develop a military “welcome center” independent of the USO and then approach the USO later after the venture proves viable.

Beers said they could end up waiting a long time for the USO’s aid. USO leaders told him they were tied up in Iraq and couldn’t spare any resources for this project, he said.

The first task is to establish a nonprofit organization with at least six board members, Sisolak said. Then raise donations and recruit a celebrity or two to endorse the center.

Beers agreed to oversee the work. He said he was confident that resort casinos and other businesses would chip in.

“I can not think of a single business in this area that would not want to have this in their advertising,” Beers said.

Lombardo said Wayne Newton, who works with the USO, expressed an interest a couple years ago in being a board member.

Cities, veterans groups, political leaders and concerned citizens should be encouraged to pitch to make the project materialize, Sisolak said.

“I don’t want to hear why we can’t do it,” he said. “Tell me what we need to do.”

Christoff described himself as “the squeaky wheel” that kept bringing the problem to the commission after the earlier attempt to open the airport lounge fizzled.

Everyone must quit pointing fingers and move forward, Christoff said.

“We’re not here to argue, we’re not here to litigate,” he said. “We have to do something we should have done five years ago.”

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