Clark County Commission Quadruples Size of Paradise Palms Historic Designation
The historic status granted to 216 mid-century homes of the Paradise Palms neighborhood five years ago -- once home to entertainers, celebrities and elite members of the business and gaming community – has been quadrupled in size to nearly a thousand homes by the Clark County Commission in a unanimous vote.
The area west of Eastern Avenue and south of Desert Inn Road is Clark County’s first master-planned community and the first Clark County neighborhood to have its street name signs topped off with separate signs denoting its identity: “Paradise Palms Historic Neighborhood.”
“In 2017, we became the first neighborhood in Clark County to adopt a Historic Neighborhood Overlay for 216 homes within the original portion of our community, and with the additional 747 homes eligible for adoption we will become the largest single-family Historic Neighborhood Overlay in Southern Nevada covering over 240 acres,” said Dave Cornoyer, a Paradise resident Palm and property owner. “We have long been a community of firsts, and we are excited to keep that tradition alive with this historic event. This adoption will help bolster our cultural and architectural tourism standing in Clark County, pay homage to the influential residents and entertainers who have made Paradise Palms their home over the years, and acknowledge the outstanding architectural significance of our community."
"Paradise Palms is excited and grateful to Clark County and the Nevada Preservation Foundation to take this final step in encompassing our entire community as part of the Historic Neighborhood Overlay,” Cornoyer said.
Resident Sandy Duffy agreed: "I’ve lived in Paradise Palms for 22 years and I’ve watched it go up and down in prestige. We have now reached the pinnacle where people know about Paradise Palms and tell me how much they like our neighborhood. So giving us historic overlay reinforces are place in the rich history of Las Vegas”
Nevada Preservation Foundation Board Member Amy Raymer said the group “was honored to work with the residents of Paradise Palms for the first and second phases of Clark County Historic Designation for this iconic midcentury neighborhood, and we applaud the County's decision to expand the historic designation to the entire community to be added to the historic overlay. Paradise Palms was Clark County's first master planned community, filled with desert modern architecture by notable Las Vegas architect Hugh Taylor and Southern California architects William M. Bray, Dan Palmer and William Krisel and, as such, deserves to be recognized and protected for future generations to understand the architectural and historic impact of this community across Clark County.”
“This is a great way to honor the historic nature of the neighborhood,” said Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom, whose district includes this area west of Eastern Avenue and south of Desert Inn Road. “This neighborhood is the heart of District E and a true gem for the County. It has homes that you cannot find anywhere else in the state and this designation is a way to recognize how important they are to the history of Clark County”
“Paradise Palms began in 1960 by Paradise Development spearheaded by founders Irwin Molasky and Merv Adelson,” according to Wikipedia. “Groundbreaking was held March 21, 1960, with Molasky, Adelson, Clark County Commissioner Harley Harmon and financier Nathan Adelson present. Paradise Palms helped open up the Paradise Valley to development, bringing sewer, water, power and telephone down Maryland Parkway and Desert Inn Road. Touted as an $8 million project, Paradise Palms was originally slated for 300 homes, later expanded to 1,000 residences on 720 acres.”
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Clark County is a dynamic and innovative organization dedicated to providing top-quality service with integrity, respect and accountability. With jurisdiction over the world-famous Las Vegas Strip and covering an area the size of New Jersey, Clark is the nation’s 11th-largest county and provides extensive regional services to 2.3 million citizens and 45.6 million visitors a year (2019). Included are the nation’s 7th-busiest airport, air quality compliance, social services and the state’s largest public hospital, University Medical Center. The County also provides municipal services that are traditionally provided by cities to 1.1 million residents in the unincorporated area. Those include fire protection, roads and other public works, parks and recreation, and planning and development.