Former Nevada governor may get new tribute as Sawyer building closes

The Nevada Gaming Commission will meet at 10 a.m. Thursday at Las Vegas City Hall as the Nevada Gaming Control Board slowly transitions from the Grant Sawyer State Office Building to its new home near Harry Reid International Airport.

Control Board Chairman Kirk Hendrick said at the end of August’s Control Board meeting that he hopes a fitting tribute to Sawyer can be made to remember his contribution to Nevada’s gaming regulatory system.

The state office building is closing this summer after years of complaints about the nearly three-decade-old building.

“This particular building was named after Gov. Grant Sawyer, who was actually a pioneer in modern gaming,” Hendrick said at the conclusion of the board’s Aug. 7 meeting. “He’s often referred to as the father of modern gaming and what he did 65 years ago in creating the Nevada Gaming Commission and the two-tiered system lives on today. I still believe it’s the best gaming system in the world and I would hope as we leave this building, that I would hope that the state would find another way to honor Grant Sawyer, former governor, and find another way to put his name on a building or something suitable.”

Hendrick noted that Sawyer has a Southern Nevada middle school named for him and another building in Northern Nevada bears his name.

Control Board offices already have moved to the new campus at The McCarran Center near Warm Springs Road and Amigo Street. The state complex includes 18 buildings, each named for a Nevada county and the state. The Control Board is based on two floors of the Washoe Building, 7 State of Nevada Way. But officials haven’t determined where Control Board and Gaming Commission meetings will be conducted.

“The board has had its own hearing room at least since the 1980s on Maryland Parkway,” Hendrick said. “This will be the first time the Gaming Control Board doesn’t have its own (hearing) room. We are looking forward to the new rooms that we will be sharing over on the new Southern Nevada campus and we will keep the public apprised of that.”

Kendrick said it’s possible regulatory meetings and workshops would be conducted at municipality council chambers or at Clark County until a meeting space is ready to permanently occupy.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.