If light rail comes to Las Vegas, one version of the plans has it stretching downtown and running over what is now the historic Reed Whipple Cultural Center on Las Vegas Boulevard North.
Assemblywoman Heidi Swank, D-Las Vegas, is rallying support to stop that plan.
Swank, executive director of the Nevada Preservation Foundation, said she wholly supports the idea of light rail from the airport to downtown. She even supports the idea of it stretching down Maryland Parkway, as currently envisioned.
But she thinks that old building should be spared and, possibly, turned into a rail stop.
She told KNPR's State of Nevada that the building was originally built by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in what is known as the International Style, which emphasizes function or decoration.
So, while some people might think it is a plain building, Swank says historic preservation is not about just saving eye-catching buildings.
"It's really not about whether a building is to any given person's perception beautiful or good or any other kind of adjective, it's about whether its important," she said.
She said the building is important and saving it is a way to save our city's history.
Swank believes the effort to protect the Reed Whipple building is an example of adaptive use, which is taking an old building and repurposing it.
She believes it is an example of the city's "growing pains," because we're such a young city compared to other American urban areas, we are just now dealing with older buildings and what to do with them.
"All of our older buildings are just becoming old buildings," she said, "We just need to adjust how we think about using our old buildings."
Swank pointed to the Neon Museum across the street as an example of a successful cultural spot in an area. She said they were talking with the Metro Arts Council about turning the cultural center into a municipal arts complex.
Assemblywoman Heidi Swank, executive director of the Nevada Preservation Foundation
