Visitor center still on track

For those who drive by the soon-to-be completed Nevada State Railroad Museum Visitor Center, it’s hard not to see something new with each passing.

According to Museum Director Christopher MacMahon, things are going well as exterior work will soon be complete.

“We have about three or four weeks remaining in the construction schedule and once complete we will move to finishes and touch-ups that are scheduled to last through the first week of June,” he said last week.

“Fabrication and installation of exhibits is scheduled through summer, and while that is ongoing, we will begin transitioning parts of our existing facilities to the visitor center in preparation for its opening. We hope to open to the public late summer or early fall.”

To be specific, likely September if everything stays on schedule, he noted.

Ground was broken on the project in December of 2024. Among the dignitaries on hand that day was Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony, who said, “Here in the state of Nevada, we really want to preserve our history and you can do it through books, but that’s not enough. You’ve got to be able to see it and feel it and look at it, and that’s what these museums are all about. And that’s why I’m really proud that all of you have come together today to build this museum in the great community of Boulder City.

“This is a great town here, and it’s a great place to have this museum where it’s not only just for our tourists, it’s really for us. It’s for us, for our kids, that we can bring them here and teach them that Nevada has a rich history that you need to learn about.”

The museum is now celebrating its 35th anniversary, after having been created through funding by the Nevada Legislature.

“It’s wonderful to finally see the visitor center coming to fruition after all this time,” MacMahon said. “As lucky as I am to lead the project through the final design, construction, and the grand opening later this year, I also want to thank my predecessors Greg Corbin and Randy Hees, whose tireless dedication helped advance the visitor center project and without whom this would not be happening.”

Within the 3,800 square feet of exhibit space, guests will explore how railroads helped facilitate mining booms in Nevada, examine the railroads that built Hoover Dam, investigate the top-secret Jackass & Western Railroad that operated at the Nevada Test Site. They’ll also learn how railroads continue to shape and build Nevada today, MacMahon said.

In addition to the exhibit space, there will also be an archive to store the museum’s document and artifact collections, a reading room for those conducting research at the museum, and a multipurpose room that will be utilized as a classroom for educational programs and school tours but also be made available for public meeting space when not used for museum programming.

The project also includes a larger museum store, new parking lot with a bus loading/unloading area, a welcome plaza, and a railroad passenger loading area with tracks on either side.

“With the project nearing completion, it’s easy to forget that this is just the first part of the expansion under the museum’s master plan, MacMahon said. “The visitor center was always designed to be a jumping off point for the rest of the museum campus.”

This includes several facilities, particularly an indoor display hall where we can put locomotives and rolling stock on display out of the elements where they will be better preserved are still needed.

“These projects are all included on our capital improvement projects list awaiting the governor or Legislature to move them forward,” he said. “We have no idea when the next project might be approved, but we are hopeful with public support, we won’t have to wait another 35 years.”

The visitor center project comes with a price tag of $25 million and is being paid for by Conserve Nevada Bonds. The future exhibit hall is estimated at approximately $88 million.

The museum is expected to be another draw for Las Vegas visitors coming through Boulder City on their way to Hoover Dam.

“The opening of the new railroad museum in 2026 will be a game-changer for our region,” Boulder City Chamber of Commerce CEO Jill Rowland-Lagan said late last year. “It will draw visitors from across state lines, strengthen our tourism economy, and celebrate a chapter of history that helped shape the American West.”