Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021 | 2 a.m.
Clark County has gathered enough donations to begin replacing signage at McCarran International Airport to show its new name, Harry Reid International Airport.
The $4.2 million collected toward the rebranding effort at the county-controlled Las Vegas airport will allow officials to seek bids for the design and construction of major signage outside and around the airport.
It’s unknown when the signs would be installed, an airport spokesperson said.
The Clark County Commission unanimously agreed to the name change earlier this year, with the rebranding to be covered by private contributions. The total transition is estimated to cost about $7 million, including interior signage and internal items like letterhead.
A quarterly fundraising report prepared for the commission’s meeting this week shows that the account set aside for renaming donations include recent $1 million gifts each from entrepreneur and professional gambler Billy Walters and his wife, Susan, and Boyd Gaming executive William Boyd and his wife, Judy. The donation list also shows $75,000 from lobbying and law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and $50,000 from The Murren Family Foundation, founded by former MGM Resorts International chief executive Jim Murren and his wife, Heather.
Businessman Stephen Cloobeck, founder of the Las Vegas-based timeshare company Diamond Resorts, pledged $1 million in the spring, county records indicate.
Commissioner Tick Segerblom, the renaming’s lead proponent, said the commission meeting on Nov. 2 will include a presentation from airport staff on the next steps.
Naming and branding are local decisions; the Federal Aviation Administration will complete some administrative tasks — including revising air traffic control maps — before officially recognizing any changes.
The county commission’s renaming decision removes the longstanding name of late Nevadan and U.S. Sen. Pat McCarran — an aviation proponent but also a known racist and anti-Semite — and replaces it with an honor to Reid, the retired U.S. Senate majority leader and a Searchlight native.
McCarran, a Democrat, served in the Senate from 1933 until his death in 1954. The Las Vegas airport has borne his name since 1968. Reid, also a Democrat, came from hardscrabble beginnings to become one of the most powerful politicians in the country. He retired from the Senate in 2017.
The airport’s three-letter code, LAS, a key FAA identifier, will remain the same.
