The development of a 61-acre tract of land known as Union Park in downtown Las Vegas is one step closer to becoming a reality after the unveiling of the design concept for its first tenant. The 55,000 square-foot Lou Ruvo Alzheimer’s Institute is expected to break ground later this year and open in 2008.

The design for the $60 million medical research facility was recently unveiled at a fundraiser for Keep Memory Alive, the foundation tied to  the Lou Ruvo Alzheimer’s Institute. Last year, the City Council and Larry Ruvo, senior managing director for Southern Nevada Wine and Spirits, announced that renowned Architect Frank Gehry had been chosen to design the much-anticipated research facility.

The design blends the functional aspects of the building with a design that will be one-of-a-kind. Gehry’s earliest models of the project were made of simple wooden blocks, with one block representing each of the spaces inside the building. A variety of options were developed and studied, and ultimately the layout evolved into two separate buildings joined by a dramatic central courtyard. The public areas of the institute, including the Museum of the Mind and Activities Center, are pushed toward the corner of the site and are sheltered by a dramatic and highly complex curving wall system.

In addition to the primary Alzheimer’s care facilities, the project includes a large Activities Center, Wolfgang Puck Kitchen and Museum of the Mind, an interactive, Smithsonian style, hands-on exhibit space where schoolchildren and visitors can learn about the brain.

Union Park is planned to include high-rise residential and commercial development, an academic medical center and a performing arts center, in addition to the 1.9-acre Alzheimer’s research center.