CSN plans to build fourth campus in northwest

City agrees to give up lease to land, Congress must give approval

Special to viewA sign marks the site planned for CSN?s northwest campus at Elkhorn Road and Grand Montecito Parkway. Advertisement

Northwest Las Vegas is quickly moving closer to gaining the one community component growth has not yet provided: higher education.

The College of Southern Nevada is planning to build its fourth campus in the valley on an approximately 40-acre plot at Elkhorn Road and Grand Montecito Parkway, pending the establishment of a federal land patent.

Las Vegas City Council agreed to give up its lease on the land at its Feb. 20 meeting, and the Nevada Board of Regents approved the agreement earlier. So, CSN will need an OK from Congress to proceed, which officials are expecting sometime this year.

"There's no definite timetable when you're seeking a congressional action, but we're very optimistic about kicking off the design stages soon and hopefully having some buildings for students to go to classes in by the end of 2009," said CSN general counsel Richard Hinckley.

City Councilman Steve Ross said the campus will be a major asset to the Centennial Hills community.

"I've talked about it for the last 21/2 years. It's huge, and the people of the northwest are so excited about this," Ross said. "It's so close to the hospital, and that will raise some interesting educational possibilities. It's just a huge complement to the area.

"Ever since the citizens in the area heard there will be a campus here one day, they've asked, 'What does that mean? When?' So, we've tried to keep the time frame tight and get it going as quick as possible."

CSN, formerly known as Community College of Southern Nevada, operates campuses in North Las Vegas, Henderson and on West Charleston Boulevard.

Expanding to the northwest valley has been on the college's agenda for a few years.

"It's a perfect location, adjacent to (U.S. Highway) 95 and Durango Drive," Hinckley said. "The existing streets surrounding the land and the surrounding infrastructure couldn't be better. It's just a beautiful spot. The city had the land under lease from the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) as a possible site for a park, so it works perfectly for our purposes."

Although specific design plans are months away, Hinckley said the northwest campus most likely will be different from other CSN sites.

"It's going to be somewhat different from other campuses because we hope to have, in a single location, all the educational services you would need, but also more services to meet the student needs, all in a centralized spot," he said. "For example, the normal plans would call for a pretty vanilla bookstore, but we'd like to invite more of a high-end presence to come in and provide a little more of an upscale experience there, and it could then be used by the community as a retail outlet."

He said such involvement with outside businesses could help defray the cost of construction and expansion on the campus.

Plans also could include student housing to be constructed on the west side of the property, since the area already is dominated by residential development, Hinckley said.