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THINK Jacobson & Roth complete Design Development for Nevada State Museum to open Spring 2008
The New York Times
By NICK KAYE
Published: November 26, 2006
It’s
not often that you hear of a quarter-billion-dollar project in Las Vegas
that does not involve poker tables, trendy nightclubs or luxury condominiums.
But the Las Vegas Springs Preserve — 180 acres of museums, theaters,
gardens and trails — is just that. The project, above, a few miles
west of the Strip, has been in the works since the late 1990s, and the
plan is for most of it to open next May.
“Definitely not your traditional or stereotypical
Las Vegas experience,” said Jesse Davis, the marketing and public
relations manager for the preserve. It is a “100 percent nongaming
attraction,” he added for safe measure.
The project (www.springspreserve.org) is in an
area filled with underground springs that helped give rise to, and later
sustain, the desert city. In 1978, the area was added to the National
Register of Historic Places. One section, the Origen Experience, will
trace the history of the Las Vegas Valley, and will include a complex
with three museum galleries; an indoor IMAX-type theater; and an outdoor
amphitheater with about 2,000 seats. A separate section of the preserve,
the Nevada State Museum and Historical Society, will focus on the state
over all, and is expected to be completed in 2008.
Another feature of the project is also decidedly
un-Las Vegas: a collection of five buildings constructed of materials
including straw bales and rammed, or compacted, earth. The Desert Living
Center is intended to be a model and a learning center for sustainable
and conscientious living, Mr. Davis said.
But what might turn out to be some of the most
popular parts of the project are its botanical gardens and trails, both
free. Desert gardens are being completely redesigned and expanded, and
there will eventually be about two and a half miles of trails for those
looking to stretch their legs after hours playing blackjack.
For more information about the Las Vegas Springs Preserve go to www.springspreserve.org
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