$1M secured for fairgrounds community center

The Pahrump Fairgrounds has been a focus of development for government officials for several years. Progress on the 427-acre site has been steady with a bulk of the work completed to date paid for by grants.

Last month, Nye County commissioners announced that another $1 million in grants has been secured for a key element of the fairgrounds — a brand new community center. A contract to construct the fairgrounds sewer system was awarded to Pahrump-based Ron Murphy Construction.

Before the motion to accept the $1 million grant came to a vote at its Feb. 22 board meeting, commissioner Frank Carbone clarified a common confusion surrounding the project.

“We’ve been telling people this building is going to be a civic center or community center — or whichever. But other people have been saying things like it’s going to be housing people who may be homeless or something to that degree,” Carbone said. “Again, this building is only going to be used for what we want to identify it for, which is a civic center where everyone can come do their thing.”

It was noted that while the center will also serve as a place that can be used for emergencies or as a cooling/warming station when the valley is experiencing an intense heat wave or extreme cold weather, it is not intended to act as any kind of permanent homeless shelter.

Commissioner Donna Cox then jumped in to state that she does not like the term “civic center”, as she feels it indicates a facility in a more urban area.

“Civic centers are usually in a city and this is a county so a ‘community center’ is probably what we ought to stick with,” Cox asserted, adding that this might help with some of the confusion by local residents.

Whether it will ultimately be called a civic center, community center or convention center, the concept behind the project remains the same.

As detailed in backup information provided with the agenda item, the facility is proposed at 28,465 square feet total, consisting of a 22,610 square-foot main building, a 3,240 square-foot senior center, a 2,615 square-foot event room and a 2,684 square-foot outdoor venue. The center would be open to the public for use for all sorts of events and purposes and would replace the Bob Ruud Community Center, which is now too small to host many of the valley’s happenings.

As of the Feb. 22 meeting, the county had already secured $2.43 million in federal funding for the community center project. With the addition of the $1 million grant from the HUD Economic Development Initiative Community Project Funding, the county has $3.43 million earmarked for the center. However, officials have a long way to go before the facility becomes a reality, with the total estimated cost for the project coming in at over $10 million.

The second fairgrounds item on the Feb. 22 agenda called for the awarding of a contract for the construction of the site’s sewer system. The county had two bids to consider, one from Sparks-based Kirch Construction in the amount of $166,660 and another from Pahrump-based Ron Murphy Construction totaling $149,875. With both bids responsive, the county opted to go with the lower price tag and the motion to award the contract to Ron Murphy Construction passed with all in favor.

The Pahrump Fairgrounds is located on 427.24 acres bordered by Highway 160 to the north and east, Gamebird Road to the south and Ironwood Avenue to the west. At this time, the site is home to the Pahrump Fireworks Shoot Site. A groundbreaking for an OHV park was held roughly one year ago and the space for eight new sports fields has been marked out. Plans for the overall development outline a new rodeo arena with corrals, multiple parking areas and even an aerial park for hot air balloons and drones.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com