History on the move

Relocation of railroad cottages faces several speed bumps

By Andrew Kiraly

Amid the whirl of urban revival going on downtown--the nightclubs and loft apartments, the arts events and mayors sashaying around with showgirls--the historic railroad cottages dot the area like a sprinkling of mild-mannered accountants at a cocktail party. The concrete block houses are among 14 left of 64 original structures built between 1909-1911 to house railroad workers.

Over the years, their number has dwindled, eaten away by development, demolition and time, and now the clock is ticking for the handful remaining downtown. Between the tricky logistics of moving, tensions between city officials and contractors, and developers whose patience is being tested, one has to wonder how well these pieces of the past will weather the Centennial.

The goal: to get at least a few of the cottages to the Las Vegas Springs Preserve at U.S. 95 and Valley View Boulevard. The problem: how to maneuver a delicate structure from the maze of downtown to a destination nestled in the elbow of a major freeway--when nobody seems quite sure how to do it.

"The clock is ticking, and I'm part excited, part apprehensive," says Bob Stoldal, chairman of the city's Historic Preservation Commission. "Nobody's come up with how they're going to get these cottages to [the Preserve]. What's the route? There's a freeway between us and the Preserve. Are we going to be able to take this up on the 95? How would you get them underneath? I keep asking everyone and I don't get an answer." Two buildings have already been moved to the Clark County Museum in Henderson--a cakewalk compared to the journey confronting this wave of cottages.

As Stoldal tells it, that ticking clock has fewer than 90 days left. Fortunately, though, the tight deadline has been tempered by good news on other fronts. For one, three nonprofit organizations have shored up more than $100,000 to help cover moving costs. Also, thanks to one unlikely hero--a developer with a sense of civic duty--the future looks bright for the five railroad cottages on South Casino Center Boulevard. Leonard Messina, who plans to build a 60-story mixed-use development project called Club Renaissance on the land, technically has the right to demolish the buildings. However, he's agreed to let three of them be moved (the other two will be harvested for parts) in the interest of historic preservation.

"They're very significant to the history of the valley, and [not demolishing them is] our way of being good corporate citizens," says Messina, managing director of Downtown Development Group. "The water system in the cottages is in itself amazing. They're made of wood." (Treated redwood wrapped in wire mesh, to be exact.)

Messina, who plans to break ground on his 900-condo project in August, hints that he's willing to stretch his deadline if necessary. And he might have to, considering the looming headache presented by actually moving the buildings. Tensions between city officials and Las Vegas-based building mover Bland-Ford Inc. reportedly have risen to the point where those in charge of relocating the cottages are looking to out-of-state contractors. Bland-Ford Inc. owner Lee Sorenson did not return phone calls.

But in the end, those involved say that moving these hunks of history--a process that will be historic in itself--is well worth the trouble.

Says Stoldal: "Knowing that I'll be able to sit there and have my four boys look at the cottages the way they were in 1910, not just at some photograph, that's very important."