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During this morning’s Las Vegas City Council meeting, the council selected an architect to begin the transformation of the former downtown post office into a cultural center and museum.
The council approved a contract not to exceed $7.5 million with Westlake Reed Leskosky for architectural and associated services to be used to perform historic preservation, rehabilitation and adaptive use of the former U.S. Post Office and federal courthouse into a museum and cultural facility. The contract includes the interior and exterior core and shell of the building, museum planning, exhibition development and design of permanent and temporary exhibition space and permanent exhibits, and related museum functions, including high and low tech interactive and multimedia exhibits.
The city is working to carefully maintain the facility and to ensure that the building’s unique history and architecture are preserved for generations to come. The building opened in 1933 as part of a massive government building effort aligned with the construction of Boulder Dam.
The adaptive use of the building is widely viewed as a centerpiece of the city’s downtown revitalization efforts. The museum will feature approximately 13,000 square-feet of exhibition space and will accommodate cultural, civic and educational programming and receptions, special events and conferences. It is scheduled to open in early 2008.
“The adaptive use of Las Vegas’ oldest civic structure and most treasured community landmark will invigorate the cultural infrastructure of downtown Las Vegas and become a destination for residents and tourists to explore the fascinating history of the city and region,” said Las Vegas Mayor Oscar B. Goodman.
Westlake Reed Leskosky specializes in design of cultural facilities and preservation of historic landmarks. The firm has designed several museums and federal building rehabilitations, including the Cleveland Museum of Art, Yuma Arts Center in Arizona, Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, Cleveland Children’s Museum, rehabilitation of the Howard M. Metzenbaum United States Courthouse in Cleveland; restoration of the James A. Walsh Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Tucson, restoration of the Trumbull County Courthouse in Warren, Ohio, and renovation and addition to the Federal Reserve Bank in Cleveland. The firm has also consulted on several historic preservation projects in Nevada, including Piper's Opera House and the Miner's Union Hall in Virginia City.
The firm brings with it a creative team that also has a list of impressive accomplishments. Dennis Barrie, who will serve as creative director of museum planning, has planned several well-known and successful history museums, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., and has consulted on projects for the Walt Disney Company and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville.
Gallagher and Associates, which will oversee Exhibit Development and Design, has designed such projects for the Maryland Museum of African-American History and Culture, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and more. The firm was recently selected as exhibition designer for the planned Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Museum in Hollywood.
Quatrefoil Associates will design the low- and high-tech interactive exhibits for the project and has overseen similar exhibits at the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, the Experience Music Project, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
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