UNLV seeks partnership with casinos to build stadium

UNLV officials say they want a direct partnership with the major hotel-casinos of the Strip to build a new domed stadium on campus.

They’re counting on a proposed stadium authority and its 11-member governing board — which would include at least two tourism/hotel executives — to accomplish that.

The authority and board are part of Assembly Bill 335, which was heard by the Assembly Ways and Means Committee on Thursday. No action was taken and the bill is still alive.

The bill would create the authority with a two-year window to nake a plan for what University of Nevada, Las Vegas officials are calling a “mega-events center.” UNLV dumped its original private development company, billionaire Ed Roski’s Majestic Realty, saying the developer was a wedge between the university and the hotel/resort industry.

The revised bill calls for UNLV officials to bring back a stadium proposal to the 2015 session. The authority would be comprised of an 11-member governing board:

■ Four members from the Board of Regents;

■ One member from the Clark County Commission;

■ One member from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority;

■ One member appointed by the governor;

■ One member appointed by the Senate majority leader;

■ One member appointed by the speaker of the Assembly.

Those nine members would then appoint two executives from the hotel industry.

The authority would function as a stakeholder group to review the need, feasibility and financial alternatives for the stadium and infrastructure. The focus would be on the stadium design, size and cost.

“This bill will provide the structure to bring together stakeholders to confirm the need for a mega-events center and then create a design and implementation plan for a facility which will truly meet the needs of the university and the region,” said Don Snyder, the UNLV point man on the stadium project.

The authority would hold an organizational meeting during October 2013, and the final report to the Legislature from the authority would be set for Sept. 30, 2014.

Contact reporter Alan Snel at asnel@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5273.