With permission from Rich Dunn

Here's what I would do:

(1) Make Carson St. one way southbound from William to Stewart. Northbound traffic would be routed onto Stewart to William, where it could go left, right or straight. All heavy trucks going both directions would be routed onto Stewart.

(2) With no need for a center median, Carson St. could have two traffic lanes, parking along one side, and widened sidewalks on both sides.

(3) The Carson City library needs a home for its large collection of Mark Twain memorabilia, and there could be no better home for it than the Laxalt Building.

I believe we should arrange a building swap so that the Nevada Tourism Commission could be relocated to the current city hall, across the street from the governor's office where it belongs. The Laxalt building could then be converted into "The Mark Twain Experience," a tourist attraction centered on the city's impressive collection of Twain memorabilia and first editions, which could feature an animatronic Mark Twain who would recite humorous passages from his works at half-hourly shows. Below I have pasted an example of just such a passage: Mark Twain's description of how our city's notorious winds affected life here in the early 1860's.

The Laxalt Building is a 19th century landmark that could become a must-see attraction for visitors to the Reno-Tahoe area. Abundant parking already exists. Many of the tourists coming to see where Samuel Clemens became Mark Twain would stay for a sandwich at the Comma or a pale ale at the Firkin. Business would boom, property values would rise, and in time the investment would pay for itself.

I believe that creation of a vibrant downtown commercial district requires a magnet attraction, and a unique destination like The Mark Twain Experience would serve that purpose admirably. After we find a new home for our undersized library, we could move city hall into the current library building, across the street from the community center where it belongs.


Mr. Dunn,

Thank you for your recent email, regarding the narrowing of Carson Street.

I appreciate the fact you took time to voice your opinion and I do take notice that citizens are who we serve.

Please tell family, friends and neighbors to voice their opinion as well.

Send them to -

jshirk@carson.org
or
Ilovecarsoncity@gmail.com


Sincerely,

Jim Shirk

Carson City Board of Supervisor
720.5761