Smith Center For The Performing Arts - History

History

Prior to The Smith Center opening, Las Vegas was one of the largest cities in the country without a performing arts center. Some highly customized production shows and venues have long existed at various resorts on the Las Vegas Strip but none were geared towards the variety of performances that a stand alone center would provide, such as that required for touring Broadway productions or major symphony orchestras. A smaller performing arts venue at the University of Nevada Las Vegas was inadequate for these purposes.

While plans for a new center were initially conceived around 1994, it was a donation in 2005, the second largest donation to performing arts in United States history, by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation of $150 million, together with a car rental fee to repay bonds of $105 million initiated by Clark County and the State of Nevada, that move the public-private project towards construction. As the largest benefactors, the building was therefore named after Fred and Mary Smith, the chairman of the foundation and his wife. The City of Las Vegas began separate plans around 2000 to build a downtown urban district called Symphony Park, which was selected as the site for the Center.

In 2010 it was announced that the Lied Discovery Children's Museum would move to the Smith Center, replacing an originally proposed 600-seat theater that was scrapped from the plans in 2008. The reasoning was that the city already had numerous similarly sized venues in the various hotel resorts. A partnership with the Kennedy Center and some classrooms onsite serves to provide educational opportunities for local youth. With the Center's opening in 2012, in addition to performances, the planners expect the center to foster arts awareness and help to revitalize the downtown area.