Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 4

4A RENO GAZETTE-JOURNALRGJ COM WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7,2004 SundownerPlan's term confidential HistorySome say laws don't do enough to protect buildings ON RGJ.COM See this story at RGJ.com for these links: Reno Historical Resources page. Nevada state buildings slide show. Historic Nevada mining towns. Family bike tour of Reno's historic buildings. Vv mi i ii From 1 A rentals, then it's very positive for downtown," said Gary Carano, general manager of the Silver Legacy Hotel Casino.

"It goes hand-in-hand with the positive resurgence of downtown." Barmand said he's hoping to have units available in six to eight months. Barmand said terms of the plan arc confidential, escrow hasn't closed and a contract hasn't been signed. "The city is very cooperative, giving us answers to our questions rapidly," he said. "The Reno Redevelopment Agency has been great to deal with." RDA officials could not be reached late Tuesday. "That's fantastic," said Fer-enc Szony, presidentCEO of The Sands Regent, which owns the Sands Regency Casino Hotel, across Arlington from the Sundowner.

"The key thing is we seem to be having some momentum with projects down on the river, with the new condos being built and then with the Comstock. The kiss of death is empty buildings, so to have people who want to do new things with them is great." Denver-based BCN Development has received city approval to build a 13-story, $21 million condominium tower, called The Palladio, with ground-floor restaurants and shops on the north side of the Truckee River at Sierra and First streets. City officials said that 96-unit project is sold out. BCN also would like to build an eight-floor condo across the river on the south side, next to the Riverside Artists Lofts. "The Sundowner was not successful as a hotel-casino in its last few years, so to have someone to do a new project, along with Saint Mary's, the largest redevelopment effort under way right now, is exactly ter the resort closed, CFO Rob Whittey said a party was "pretty interested" in buying the site for use as condos.

In late January, RDA Administrator Pete Gillon confirmed a potential buyer was interested in the building and wanted to convert it for condos geared toward first-time home-buyers. He said the agency could help the investor set up a first-time buyer's program, including assistance with such expenses as downpayments. He said the city would have no other financial involvement. Barmand confirmed Tuesday that he is that potential investor. The Sundowner closed Nov.

9, putting 300 full-time and 75 part-time employees out of work. Karadanis told workers the resort no longer could operate under the strain of increased gaming competition. It had been for sale for several years. Karadanis and Maloff have been unavailable for comment since the announcement a month before the closure. The Sundowner opened in May 1975.

Last October, the Sundowner's assessed value fell from $10 million to $7.7 million. Barmand said his company, Barmand 8c Associates, has done various urban rehabilitation projects in other markets, including Los Angeles, San Diego and Sacramento. "I always knew there was a niche to be filled in downtown Reno for residential condos, but hadn't found a project or property that would lend itself well to conversion," he said. "The Sundowner seems to." The developer said he considered buying the Comstock but passed, citing terms of the deal. "But it's great to see other people believing in the market," He said, adding he doesn't fear a possible downtown condo glut, at least "not yet." Reno Gazette-Journal file IN FEBRUARY: The Sundowner Hotel Casino in downtown Reno closed at the end of 2003.

From 1A Some preservationists claim city laws aren't strong enough and people don't care enough to prevent the destruction of historic buildings, on purpose or by accident. "We have to start giving a damn," said Cobb, who, with his father Jerry, put the city's first FM radio station on the air in 1 953. "We have this super history. It should be treasured and marketed as part of a complete community." Cobb said he was expressing his own opinions, not tnose of the commission, and called what's happening to Reno's old buildings "demolition by neglect." The Bethel A.M.E. Church on Bell Street, which congregation leaders still hope to turn into a black history museum, had been boarded shut for about a year when the fire broke out.

The incident is being investigated as arson. In 2001, fire destroyed another Reno landmark, the Wingfield House on Court Street. Preservationists such as Cobb and William Simons, who operates a real estate business and owns downtown property, fear the Fitzgeralds warehouse will be torn down. "Nobody is paying attention," said Simons, who expressed interest in buying the building and turning it into a museum. "Nobody is aware of the historical significance of that building.

I think if more people were aware of it, the less it would be inclined to be torn down. Its future is precarious." Preservationists cited reasons for their concerns: It's old. It's across the street from railroad tracks being lowered into a trench the length of downtown. It has no commercial value. It's in Reno's casino core.

"That's something that's in immediate danger because of its location," Cobb said. "Here is this building that's just used for storage in the middle of an active economic area." The temple occupied the building's second floor until 1 905, according to a report by Lewis Kittell, vice chairman of the historical commission, with the ground floor leased as a combination grocery and hardware store. Kittell said the Masons vacated the building, moving their temple to another downtown location, but store operations continued through most of the 20th century. "I think it's worth saving," said Simons. "We have to figure out how and figure out what would be necessary to preserve it." The building is not listed on the city's register of historic places that features such Reno what we need," Szony said, referring to the $160 million expansion of the Medical Center two blocks north at Sixth Street.

Szony acknowledged that a Sundowner full of homeowners would mean increased business for the Sands, but said potential new residents would have plenty of access within walking distance to restaurants and entertainment at his casino and others downtown. Asked about potential roadblocks, Barmand said he's con KitsMedical procedures to select sex raise ethical concerns 'We have some people who didn't get the gender that they chose, but virtually every one of them didn't do it From 1A said University of Pennsylvania bioethicist Arthur Caplan. The only two medical procedures that experts say are legitimate a method requiring in vitro fertilization and the experimental MicroSort sperm-sorting technique have raised ethical concerns about designer babies and gender bias. A Fairfax, clinic that offers the $2,300 MicroSort technique recently ran national newspaper ads seeking to recruit patients with the headline: "Do you want to choose the gender of your next baby?" But home-use products that guarantee results with things like douches, vitamins and do-it-yourself artificial insemination kits pose different ethical problems because "they're promising things they can't deliver," Caplan said. "There absolutely is an audience of people who are interested in" gender selection, said Richard Rawlins, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology research at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

"The old standby is 'caveat emptor buyer One home-use product is the GenSelect system, featuring boy and girl kits offered over the In- pas cerned about the market demand for downtown housing. "We're trying to get ourselves comfortable with the one- and two-bedroom demand there," he said. "We are considering (catering to) first-time home-buyers." He said those include single people or young professionals in their first job out of college. Talk of turning the 593-room hotel-casino into condos has been circulating for months: In November, not long af Dr. Scott Sweazy in at-home baby gender selection system wanted thanks to GenSelect.

She found their site while Web surfing and was pretty doubtful at first. "It seemed far-fetched and it was online so you never know what you're getting," said Moister, 32, who already has a young son. She said she and her husband considered MicroSort but didn't want to travel to Virginia, so they tried the low-tech method instead, figuring they'd be perfectly happy if they conceived a boy instead. Moister said she became a convert when she learned she was carrying a girl. Many doctors remain skeptical and say luck mostly explains such success stories.

Some "old wives' tales" methods like timing intercourse close 25th Year Anniversary Since 1978 Carson Rpnn 882-9491 329-7205 il I fSf NV.lic.19893B ET CA. Lie. 649424 to ovulation for a boy or douching with vinegar for a girl could theoretically slightly improve a couple's chances of success, but they're scientifically unproven, Rawlins said. Fertility specialist Dr. Norbert Gleicher called such products "snake oil." Gleicher made headlines three years ago when his Chicago and New York clinics became among the nation's first to offer sex selection for non-medical reasons using a technique called preim-plantation genetic screening.

The method analyzes embryos created through in vitro fertilization and was designed to help couples at risk for having children with inherited genetic diseases. The screening can detect healthy embryos ana their gender with nearly 100 percent accuracy. But once the desired embryo has been selected, pregnancy through IVF is not a sure thing and several tries costing tens of thousands of dollars often are necessary. should WillKEL GMC Would like our team. commercial landmarks as the McKinley Park School Arts and Culture Center, the Washoe County Court House and the Lear TheaterFirst Church of Christ Science.

A building on the register can't be demolished until the city gets a chance to work with the owner to save it. But critics claim Reno's historic preservation regulation is weak because the register is voluntary. A building is placed on the list only if the owner requests it. Buildings on the list can be demolished. "There is nothing to protect it," Mercedes de la Garza, a Reno architect and preservationist, said of buildings on the registet "The list is a list." One ofthe buildings on the register is the Stone House, built in 1 920s at the corner of South Arlington Avenue and Plumb Lane and owned by Reno lawyer Stewart White.

"I believe there is a core of people interested in the history of Reno," said White, who bought the house and requested the city put it on the registet "I think they are doing pretty well." Although Stewart owns the building, it': leased as a restaurant and wine shop. Because the house is on the register, Stewart needed city approval to make renovations. "I love old cars and old properties," said Stewart, who will receive a city preservation award in May. "I was trying to save it." The register is a compromise between historic preservation and private property rights, said Mella Harmon, a member of the historical resources commission and a preservation specialist with the state. "We walk a pretty tight line between doing something on the one hand and on the other hand having the perception of violating personal property rights," Harmon said.

"All historic preservation walks that line. It's a tricky balance." Reno Gazette-Journal Vol. 23 -No. 98 The Reno Gazette-Journal (ISSN 0754-1415), a Gannett Newspaper; is published daily by Reno Newspapers, 955 Kuenzli Street, Reno, Nevada 89502 (P.O. Box 22000, Reno, Nevada 895201.

Periodicals postage is paid at Reno, Nevada. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to the Reno Gazette-Journal, P.O. Box 22000, Reno, Nevada 89520. How to reach us In Person 955 Kuenzli Reno, Mon. fri.

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and holidays). The publisher reserves the right to change subscription rates during the term of a subscription and adjust expiration dates accordingly. Want to advertise? Classified (775) 348-7355 Display (775) 788-6293 Carson-Douglas Classified 885-5550 Carson-Douglas Display (775) 885-5568 Urologlst who created ternet at $199 apiece plus shipping. It is touted as being 96 percent effective if properly used. GenSelect patents were approved earlier this year, said Dr.

Scott Sweazy, a South Carolina urologist who helped create the system. The kits include a thermometer to help predict ovulation, special douches and "gender specific" mineral and herbal pills. Sweazy said thousands of kits have been sold worldwide since the Web site started three years ago, and that business has tripled in the past year. He said he did not have information on how many babies of the desired gender have been born with GenSelect, and a spokesman said sales figures are confidential. "We have some people who didn't get the gender that they chose," Sweazy said, "but virtually every one of them didn't do it right." Veronica Moister of Lake Worth, Fla.

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