ARPA tourism funds allocated for Amargosa/Tonopah, Pahrump app still pending

More than $75,000 was approved this month for various projects intended to facilitate economic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the town of Amargosa and Tonopah Main Street both set to receive funding through Nye County American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) tourism dollars.

They were the first such applications to be received by the county since the launch of its ARPA grants programs last year but they are not expected to be the last. As noted during the Nye County Commission’s Tuesday, May 2 meeting, Amargosa is working to submit a second tourism grant application and the town of Pahrump is currently awaiting cost estimates for the project it wishes to fund using an ARPA tourism grant.

“We are super excited, we are reaching all levels of the county,” Nye County Contract and Grants Manager Stephani Elliott enthused as the town of Amargosa’s application was opened for review.

Taking over for a brief explanation of Amargosa’s proposal was Amargosa Town Board member Brenda Dymond, who said the application was broken down into three basic segments for a total cost of $21,775.

“There’re the billboards in Mina and in Mesquite, for $18,550 and then we would also like to create and print our own brochure for our town and have a kiosk, which is about $1,500. And then the third part is, we don’t have any signage in town,” Dymond detailed.

The billboard in Mina would be located on U.S. 95 while the Mesquite billboard would be located on the I-15, which have a combined exposure of roughly 84,000 people a week, the town’s application reports. The kiosk featuring the proposed brochure would be placed at the junction of the U.S. 95 and Highway 373, “…allowing visitors to see what Amargosa has to offer,” the application reads. “We would have a map showing the locations of various attractions.”

As for town signage, this part of the project would help direct people to the town of Amargosa’s main office along with its fire and rescue station, library, clinic and senior center.

“I know billboards very well and they work!” Commission chair Bruce Jabbour, whose background is in hospitality, remarked as the item came to a vote. “I think it’s a wonderful thing to get tourism to Amargosa and throughout Nye County.”

The request for $22,775 passed with all in favor.

Moving on to the second ARPA tourism grant application, submitted by Tonopah Development Corporation, doing business as Tonopah Main Street, the commission heard from organization representative Kat Galli.

“We want to document our historical structures, murals and monuments in downtown and we want to document the people who are buried at the old cemetery,” Galli told commissioners. “This would be information on two websites so it’s accessible anywhere, corresponding with our codes at the buildings, murals, monuments and gravesites so that people can take a picture of the QR code and it’ll take you to the websites, directly to whichever building, site or person you are trying to look up.”

Dymond noted that there are plenty of resources when it comes to gathering the data the organization is aiming to put together, including the Central Nevada Museum and Historical Society and the Nye County Recorder’s and Clerk’s offices. There is currently a brochure with similar information offered in Tonopah but it is much more abbreviated.

“We are hoping to fill the website with all of these documents, the newspaper articles, death certificates, whatever we can find. There are historical photographs, postcards, and we really want to fill the website with all of those documents that people otherwise don’t have access to, because they are not allowed in all of these facilities with the gloves on,” Galli explained.

The intent, of course, is to keep visitors to the area in Tonopah for longer periods of time. Dymond said according to state statistics, in the Silver Trails Territory, where Tonopah resides, the average amount spent by an overnight guest is $128 per day.

The total amount of the applications was $52,400. The bulk of Tonopah Main Street’s request, $50,000, is to go toward development and design of the two websites, one specific to the cemetery and a second for the historic sites and murals, as well as purchasing the corresponding signs and/or plaques to mark the featured sites. The remaining $2,400 is for social media promotions.

“Marketing would be on Facebook and Instagram,” Dymond stated, adding that the organization had determined that the digital marketing method was the best way to easily reach hundreds of thousands of people.

The Tonopah Main Street application was also approved with all in favor.

In the coming weeks, the county is expecting another application from the town of Amargosa for an electronic billboard for its community, as well as an application from the town of Pahrump.

“Our main project for Pahrump is still pending a proposal and that project is to move the Pahrump Fireworks Launch Site,” Pahrump Tourism Director Arlette Ledbetter told the commission during the May 2 meeting.

The Pahrump Fireworks Launch Site is currently located on land at the Pahrump Fairgrounds that has been earmarked for future sports fields. “That launch site needs to be moved so we can continue to generate revenue for the fairgrounds and so that the multipurpose fields can be built and begin to generate sports tourism, hotel revenue and more for the town of Pahrump,” Ledbetter stated.

With the approval of the two agenda items that afternoon, however, there is only $55,000 remaining in the county’s ARPA tourism grant program, which means the county may need to shift additional funds into that program in order to cover the looming proposals.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com