Rendering provided by the Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau showing what the Legislative Building on South Carson Street will look like after a current remodel.
The large hole in the west side of the Nevada Legislative Building on South Carson Street will become a stately new entrance once an estimated $25-$30 million remodel is finished, according to the Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau.
Jon Vietti, LCB chief of operations, said the project will provide ease of access for the “people’s house.”
“We want the people to be here, to hear their voice,” he said during a behind-the-scenes look March 22. “We want to have it inviting and safe when they come here.”
According to the LCB, the project was authorized by lawmakers in a special session last year. The makeover includes a new secure entrance on the west side, adding approximately 6,600 square feet built around a “blast box,” plus the remodeling and modernization of 18,000-20,000 square feet in the existing building. The addition will include the blast box — or security portal — more meeting and briefing space and a new deli, while modernization will see bathroom updates for ADA compliance, asbestos abatement and lead removal.
The goal of the LCB is to have the west entrance completed by the next session in 2025. At that time, visitors will see a new entrance with a granite exterior. The granite is being quarried locally, which LCB Director Brenda Erdoes called fitting.
“The really cool thing about this is not only will it last and it’s super hard,” she said, “but it’s quarried in the Sierra Nevada.”
According to Vietti, the granite paneling will be installed on the rest of the roughly 200,000-square-foot building at an estimated cost of approximately $17 million, but that project will extend into 2026 after the next session.
Currently, passersby can see the original rock work on the west side from the 1970s. The leak-prone EIFS (Exterior Insulation Finishing System) installed on the building in the mid-1990s is coming off, Vietti said.
“It’s just going to keep on deteriorating over time,” he said. “Mostly, all the water that was coming was from wind-driven rain, and it was doing damage to the inside of the building as well. We had bellies set up. They’re pretty much tarps with a hose on it … And here, how often do we just get calm rain? Not too often. It’s coming sideways, and so it would always come into the building. We replaced the roof as far as one of our CIP projects last session, last biennium, and that did help, too, but again it was the EIFS.”
When looking for a new exterior product, the LCB wanted something with longevity versus the 20-year life cycle of the EIFS. The granite paneling is lightweight, with insulation backing, and won’t need the kind of structural reinforcement granite blocks require.
“It’s supposed to be a 100-year product,” said incoming LCB Director Nicolas Anthony. “It’s going to last.”
The blast box, or security portal, reflects a new political reality: the threat of terrorism or violent mobs. A new security portal was recently completed on the east side, and Erdoes said the entrances will now be reinforced in a way to direct any bomb detonation away from the main building. On the west side, new pillars will be constructed far enough in front of the blast portal to support the new section of building above it.
“It was built in the ‘70s,” Erdoes said of the original design, “and these things weren’t taken into consideration.”
During session, she said, the building is packed with lawmakers, lobbyists and others, and any bomb would likely go off at the security check. Before the remodel, such an incident would have jeopardized the whole side of the building.
“Statistically, that’s where the bomb would likely go off because now the person is caught,” she said. “We needed to build out because the blast box directs the blast. That’s what it does.”
Erdoes is retiring April 1 after more than 40 years at the LCB, so the project is meaningful to her. She said it will provide an aesthetic upgrade as well.
“When you think about it, the Capitol Building is very stately,” she said. “The Supreme Court is very stately. And we were kind of the exception to that triangle.”
Erdoes agreed with Vietti the building will become more welcoming.
“We’ve grown so much in these years,” she said, “so this, I believe, will give us … make it a more pleasant and workable space for the Legislature to conduct its business.”
Plenium Builders based in Sparks is overseeing construction, while two Nevada architects — Paul Cavin and Ethos Three — are handling design.
“Plenium is great. They have done a lot of jobs in Northern Nevada,” said Vietti. “They’ve been very helpful, and they’re taking on the challenge to get this thing done by session.”
For information and updates on the Legislative Building, visit https://www.leg.state.nv.us/General/AboutLeg/maps/.