Former bank building in downtown Las Vegas to be renovated
Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada won the battle over the future renovation of a historical building and the vacation of a portion of South 8th Street downtown.
The building, previously a Frontier Fidelity bank, was built by Robert Hagman and Kurt Meyer of Hagman & Meyer in 1962 and showcases midcentury modern architecture. The 62-year-old structure, which the Legal Aid Center bought in 2020, has since fallen into disrepair and is not up to modern standards: part of the foundation is sinking, it is not ADA compliant and does not have any fire safety measures.
Legal Aid Center planned to completely overhaul the building at 801 E. Charleston Ave. but saw some pushback. Las Vegas-based developer Dapper Companies attempted to drum up community support to save the building but was unsuccessful.
In plans approved by the Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday, Legal Aid Center will keep some of the midcentury modern touches of the former bank building. LGA Architecture, which is designing the renovation, will keep some original brick from the building and the brise soleil, a common midcentury modern feature.
Original plans for the redevelopment didn’t include perserving any of the original architectural design.
Why add a second office
Legal Aid Center said it is seeking to add a second office across the street from its current one at 725 E. Charleston Blvd. because it has seen a massive increase in cases and clients. The new office will increase the center’s square footage from 9,000 to 40,000. It will connect to the existing office along South 8th Street via a bridge.
The new, approved building will be named the Advocacy & Justice Complex and will house the center’s Resiliency & Justice Center, which will serve survivors of mass violence and violent crime and will be the first of its kind in Nevada. The center was born out of the Route 91 tragedy on Oct. 1, 2017 and will respond to any incident of mass violence.
Legal Aid Center won approval by the City Council to have a portion of South 8th Street closed to traffic despite no neighboring businesses supporting the plan.
Brian Berman, whose law firm is at 721 Gass Ave., said during Wednesday’s public hearing that he cannot “in good conscience” agree to the vacation of South 8th Street. Berman said himself, his clients and staff all use the street to get to his firm and traffic backs up on the street everyday.
“It doesn’t belong to the city,” said Berman. “It belongs to me and every other resident and every other visitor of Las Vegas.”
Contact Emerson Drewes at edrewes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @EmersonDrewes on X.