Clark County Commissioner Michael Naft, who represents the area, was joined by Clark County Commission Chairman Jim Gibson and other dignitaries for a groundbreaking ceremony kicking off construction of the two-story, 37,000-square-foot Silverado Ranch Community Center.

The facility is being built at the northeast corner of the Silverado Ranch Park, which is located at 9855 Gilespie Street. Until the new facility opens, area residents must travel about 10 miles to the northeast to visit the nearest Clark County community center, which is called Paradise.

To be completed in 2024, the Silverado Ranch Community Center will feature a vast array of modern amenities, including an indoor walking track with two 3-foot-wide lanes, a state-of-the-art exercise and fitness room, dance and yoga amenities, a teaching kitchen, indoor gymnasium, multipurpose classrooms, conference room space, an arts and crafts area, and a breakroom.

“We spent a lot of time gathering input from the residents of Silverado Ranch about exactly what they wanted for their community center,” said Naft. “I’m glad that we’re now able to break ground on a new state-of-the-art facility that meets their needs. The fact that this is the first new community center to be built by the County in nearly a decade make this occasion especially noteworthy.” The input of neighbors was sought through a series of public meetings, surveys and other efforts.

Artist Talley Fisher will install within a 24-foot-tall space at the mezzanine level an art work she calls “Desert Winds,” consisting of abstracted and curled gusts suspended from the ceiling and weaving down the main corridor.

“The shapes will lend themselves to different interpretations, such as clouds or waves, giving each viewer the opportunity to create their own narrative,” Fisher said. Copper, silver, and blue finishes mirror the color palette of the surrounding landscape as well as the finishes of the building.

The community center was designed to be green, closely matching LEED Silver-certified standards. It also meets Clark County’s Energy Program requirements by reducing energy intensity, as measured in BTU per square foot, by 20 percent. This standard provides the minimum energy-efficient requirements for energy-efficient design. Design standards for building materials includes healthy building materials – such as wood, plastics, paint, and other finishes – that require up-to-date Environmental Product Declaration, certification that wood products, plastic paneling and accessories contain no chemical listed on the Living Building Institute red list, certification that materials contain no formaldehyde, and that all adhesives and finishes have zero Volatile Organic Compounds content.  As a sustainability standard, lumber used for this project is required to be harvested from a Forest Stewardship Council-certified, well-managed forest.

The last community center that the County built was Parkdale, which opened in March 2015.