Henderson may pay for half of new Golden Knights facility
Henderson’s proposed annual budget includes money for dozens of new city jobs and a Vegas Golden Knights facility, officials said.
The city is expecting to pay for about half of the team’s proposed Water Street District facility, which officials anticipate costing $22 million, Henderson Chief Financial Officer Jim McIntosh said. The proposed complex would be built on the site of the existing Henderson Convention Center at Water Street and Atlantic Avenue.
“For us, this is a catalyst project … for Water Street,” McIntosh said.
The city would have access to meeting space in the facility, according to Jill Lynch, assistant finance director. The venue would also be open to the public for tournaments and youth camps. If council members do not approve the arena, the money will be available for another project, Lynch said.
Of the $11 million the city expects to pump into the project, $7 million will come from money from the convention center and $4 million will come from the city’s separate redevelopment agency budget, McIntosh said.
The demolition of the convention center will slash four jobs, but the city wants to add 66 new positions in its next fiscal year.
About half of the new positions are public safety jobs, with 22 of those going to staff a new fire station at Horizon Drive and Horizon Ridge Parkway.
“That’s probably one of the biggest expenses that we had,” McIntosh said. The citywide budget is more than $610 million.
Operating costs are also budgeted for the fire station, which is expected to cut one of the city’s busiest fire districts virtually in half.
Other new public safety jobs include four police officers and six police dispatchers.
McIntosh said at an April 9 City Council meeting that the economy is continuing to improve in Henderson, but the city has not fully recovered to pre-recession levels.
The budget will go in front of the City Council for a vote on May 21. The fiscal year begins July 1.
Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.
