Preservation group lists priorities

RENO -- The Goldfield school, Commercial Row in Wells and the rail yard in Ely are among Nevada's most endangered historic treasures, a preservation group said in a new report.

The Virginia Street Bridge in Reno also remains on the list issued by Preserve Nevada, along with Reno's Hillside Cemetery, the Round Hill Pine Resort at Lake Tahoe and the First Presbyterian Church in Carson City.

Former U.S. Sen. and Gov. Richard Bryan is chairman of the nonprofit group formed in 2001 affiliated with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Department of History.

Group leaders said vandalism and time have especially taken a toll on the mining towns of Goldfield and Austin.

The Goldfield School is on the edge of collapse, said Mella Harmon, a Preserve Nevada board member. She said the west exterior wall will have to be completely rebuilt, but she hopes it will survive.

"A lot of folks have bought the old historical buildings at very good prices and are fixing them up," she said. "It takes a few people in the community that have that vision."

Another endangered spot is Commercial Row in Wells, where the storefronts are falling apart. Wells was once a railhead and a busy cow town.

The Nevada Northern Railway yard in Ely is in need of a new water system to fight fires, the group said.

The city of Ely needs to raise $1 million after its pleas for help from the Nevada Legislature failed this year. The railway is listed as a National Historic Landmark.

Bryan said the Virginia Street Bridge remains "close to his heart," although he recognizes the legitimate need for flood control.

For many decades, the 1905 bridge was the Reno landmark featured on postcards and was made famous as the place where Reno divorcees tossed wedding rings into the river.

The Hillside Cemetery also is on the list as critical. John Lawton, who owns the common space between graves, said Monday he is working with a designer to improve the landscaping, remove fencing and provide space for cremation urns.

Bryan reported the historic portion of the First Presbyterian Church in Carson City has been saved while the newer portion has been demolished. Plans to rebuild to gain more space are under review.

"This historic structure was clearly about to meet the wrecking ball," he said. "This is one of our success stories."

The church, Bryan said, dates back to the days of Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, and his brother Orion, who was Nevada secretary of state. Twain raised about $200 to help build the 143-year-old church.

The Round Hill Pine Resort at Lake Tahoe, north of Stateline, was built as a private summer retreat in the late 1920s and is listed as endangered by the group.

For 30 years, the U.S. Forest Service has allowed it to deteriorate, and no money is available to restore the buildings.

Sites in Southern Nevada include the adobe ranch buildings at the Kiel Ranch, built around 1880.

The Gilcrease family properties, started as a truck farm, is being surrounded by suburbia, and the Huntridge Theatre, built in the early 1940s, is suffering from neglect, and its future is uncertain, according to the group.