Streetwise: Henderson’s Water Street

IN RECENT YEARS, Henderson’s Water Street District has garnered justified buzz for revamping itself into a cool hang with a mix of things to do. I’m feeling it. Not only is Water Street legit as a pregame launch pad before hitting all the cool Hendo events going on, it’s a fine crawl in its own right. Here’s how to enjoy Water Street in Streetwise fashion.

1. First, you brew you.Ā Youā€™ve got your pregame pick of bars and breweries in the newly hopping Water District, from the oldie-but-goodie Gold Mine Tavern to relative newcomer Biscuits and Bourbon (Old Fashioneds on tap ftw!), but, as a twitchy alco-savant who favors multiple accessory distractions that affordĀ rich opportunities to invariably spill beer with high tactical accuracy on my greater crotchal region, I usu take my Water Street sojourns atĀ Lovelady Brewing Company, with its solid beer menu and sweet bar shuffleboard thatā€™s great for breaking ice with the locals.

2. Eat the street. An unyielding posture of suspicion toward the word ā€œfusionā€ is, understandably, warranted when it comes to food or, for that matter, overstated claims of breakthrough nuclear energy production at room temperature. To me, ā€œfusionā€ is often a word-beard for truant, hapless culinary indecision.

But then: I ate atĀ Chinitas Tapas & Sushi, which avers ā€œMexican + Asian fusion.ā€ And now: I change my mind. I endorse! TheĀ highly dippable, richly savory quesabirria tacosĀ topped with pickled onion = on point. The sushi rolls are admirably solid. The Thai Daisy cocktail is a lively, riffy aperol spritz. Best of all, the Walsh-Ramos family that created Chinitas is itself a fusion! The swoony multicultural Americana of it all!

2a. But also considerĀ a solid beefalicious pattyslab at Street Burger, where the third-floor patio offers striking, Instagrammy views of the valley.

2b. No question here:Ā If you happen to have made an early enough pregame start (i.e., before 2 p.m.), pocket a portable goodie fromĀ Chef Flemmingā€™s Bakeshop. Flemming purposely laddered down from the heights of luxury-hotel pastry gigs, skills honed, to run this warm neighborhood spot. Even his website uses cookies lol.

3. Squeeze in some art and history appreciationĀ at Robert Beckmannā€™s stately five-panel mural on Water Street and Pacific Avenue that tells an American story of conflict and enterprise lensed specifically through Henderson, whose roots and identity grew out of World War II.

4. Finally, consider how Downtown Henderson has come a hella long way.

Taken as a unit, Water Street Plaza and the Henderson City Hall complex isnā€™t just a sort of civic terminus of Water Street, but it represents the dot on an exclamation point of redevelopment decades in the making. As far as the architecture of gov complexes go, I suppose you could do worse than theĀ unobtrusive pomo Jawa Lego look of todayā€™s Henderson City Hall, which seems as though itā€™s politely crouching lest it obtrude upon the vantage of the spindled and towered Black Mountain that frames it.

But, once a upon a time, it all could have looked dramatically different ā€¦ [flashback harp strum]

5. Letā€™s go back in TIME Time timeĀ to a crossroads moment in the 1980s. Henderson City Hall was going to be a very different kind of building. It would be a ā€œliving, organicā€ civic shrine ā€œrising majestically from the upper elevations of downtown Henderson,ā€ according to a description in theĀ Review-Journal.

It would be a decisive declaration of modern urbanity from a growing and distinct burg that felt it deserved more than being considered a mere suburb of Las Vegas.

It was 1986. Henderson had a serious case of teenage angst:Ā Growing pains, a shaky sense of identity.Ā Its city hall, built in 1963, couldnā€™t contain the increasing municipal services needed to keep up with the growing city. Government offices were spread randomly through town in temporary buildings; there were jokes about needing a road map to navigate the jumble of departments and divisions,Ā about the ā€œpuzzle palaceā€ offices that city employees had to constantly rearrangeĀ to accommodate new workers. Henderson wanted a modern city hall that would not only contain its Swiss Army knife of bureaucratic functions, but would also be a statement piece to affirm a grown-up identity and reinvigorate downtown.

Enter Dennis E. Rusk, architect and Henderson planning commissioner.Ā To say he had a vision would be an understatement. Rusk proposed a six-story, 34,000-square-foot city hall complex with a soaring, glass-vaulted atrium. But wait, thereā€™s more ā€” oh, much more.

ā€œI didnā€™t just want to design a new city hall,ā€ Rusk tells me by phone. ā€œI wanted to transform downtown Henderson. The idea was to help develop the city into a center of arts, culture, and education.ā€

His ultimate vision also included integrating the library, a senior center, a convention center, and an amphitheater. He also wanted to convert the surrounding historic townhomes to live/work artist studios, and then, aroundĀ that, build nine architecturally themed structures to represent nine global desert environs, as well as reflect their unique ecologies and indigenous peoples. To get a flavor of his stuff,Ā check out this portfolio; thereā€™s definitely a hanging-gardens-of-Babylon theme going on. ā€œIt was a ā€˜greenā€™ project before green was a popular concept,ā€ he says.

Whatā€™s not to love? The Henderson City Council was on board with Ruskā€™s city hall and library remake, and approved Rusksā€™s ambitious, $4-million-plus plan in March 1986.

But there were snags.Ā And then there were cracks. Some questioned whether there was some hinky conflict-of-interest going on, given that Rusk was a planning commissioner and the architectural proposal didnā€™t go out to public bid. Estimated construction costs that came in for Ruskā€™s vision wereĀ waaayĀ higher than anticipated.

The library district got cold feet about the growing expense of linking the library to the complex and pulled out ā€” even going so far as to lodge a complaint against Rusk with the state Board of Architecture. It wasnā€™t long before the entire plan spectacularly unraveled, climaxing when Rusk slapped the city of Henderson and the library district with a $15 million lawsuit for libel and breach of contract, among other things, alleging they conspired to ruin his business.

The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed by a federal judgeĀ in September 1989 ā€” ā€œon a technicality,ā€ Rusk tells me.

Rusk still lives in Southern NevadaĀ but he says he is not currently licensed to practice architecture in the state. (Which is a whooole ā€˜nother story.) He can work here, as long as itā€™s via consultation with Nevada-licensed architects. ā€œIā€™m a little bit jaded,ā€ he says, ā€œbut that episode definitely affected my career.ā€

But it certainly hasnā€™t tempered his uncompromising design sensibility:Ā He self-published a book,Ā Death of American Architecture, in 2012.

6. The Henderson City HallĀ you see today was designed by HCA Architects.

A special thanks to Scott Dickensheets of City Cast Las Vegas for the Hendo saga tip.

(Pictured: Rusk rendering courtesy Dennis Rusk; Henderson City Hall courtesy City of Henderson)

Andrew Kiraly

Andrew Kiraly

Andrew Kiraly is publisher of TheList.Vegas.

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