Las Vegas airport sign changes to cost $4.7M
Some locals still call Las Vegas’ airport “McCarran.” But two of the last reminders of that era are set to finally be wiped away.
County commissioners voted Tuesday to approve a nearly $4.8 million project bid to modify two concrete monument signs to reflect the airport’s 2021 name change to Harry Reid International Airport.
The project, which will alter the signs located at the intersections of East Tropicana Avenue at Koval Lane and Paradise Road, will be funded through private donations.
The name, which honors late U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, came after a yearslong effort by Commissioner Tick Segerblom to change the airport’s name from that of Pat McCarran’s, whose controversial past included racist, antisemitic and xenophobic stances.
The cost to alter the signs was projected in April 2021 to be nearly $2 million.
The costs associated with the overall effort to change the name rose, too. The cost for the entire name change project was originally projected to cost $7.2 million, but a budget summary shared with commissioners Tuesday shows the cost could now reach over $7.6 million.
The county set up a bank account at that time to raise money for the renaming process. The fund reached $4.2 million in October 2021, but another $2.8 million was required at that time to complete renaming efforts at the airport.
The bidding process was opened on Dec. 14, and awarded to Cobblestone Construction.
Contact Taylor R. Avery at TAvery@reviewjournal.com. Follow @travery98 on X.
