Historic Westside SchooL
Las Vegas, Nevada

The Westside School campus was an important educational institution in the predominantly African American Westside neighborhood in Las Vegas. The two buildings on campus, a 1923 school designed by Los Angeles-based Allison & Allison and a 1948 annex designed by a local architect. The school closed in 1967, and the 1923 building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places (National Register) in 1979. Chattel amended the National Register listing to include the 1948 annex in 2015.

Working with KME Architects, Chattel implemented the Historic Westside School Master Plan for the five-acre site, developed in collaboration with community stakeholders. Chattel and KME Architects designed a rehabilitation program in conformance with the Secretary’s Standards that incorporated retail spaces, non-profit offices, the KCEP local radio station, and community meeting space. Chattel prepared a Historic Tax Credit application and Parts 1 and 2 of the application were approved by the National Park Service in September 2013. The project used New Markets Tax Credits and was completed in 2016.

The Historic Westside School received one of the American Public Works Association’s Public Works Projects of the Year for 2018 in the category of Historical Restoration/Preservation, $5 million but less than $25 million.