Summary History of the Junior League of Las Vegas’ Morelli House Preservation/Rehabilitation Project, 1997-2016

The Morelli House is a highly recognized historic preservation site in Las Vegas that is listed on the city, state and national historic registers and is also a well-regarded historic cultural resource center in the community. The Junior League of Las Vegas has received numerous prestigious awards and accolades for its historic property development efforts and for its public interpretive programming. In addition, the Morelli House Preservation project not only provides a repurposed headquarters facility for the Junior League organization; but, by its physical presence and public programming, has increased the public’s awareness about the organization and its impressive legacy of community service since 1946.

The Junior League of Las Vegas began the Morelli House Preservation Project in 1997 when its Endowment Board acquired the historic Whitehead House built in 1929 as an asset of the Endowment Fund for relocation and restoration as an historic preservation project for the community; as the headquarters for the organization; and as a potential future source of income for the Endowment Fund through office rentals which would finance the maintenance of the property and further increase the balance of the Endowment Fund’s principle.

The donation of the Whitehead House was predicated upon its removal from its original site at 7th and Mesquite Avenue. Upon its acceptance by the Endowment Board, the Whitehead House was moved to a temporary site loaned by casino owner, Jackie Gaughan, at 10th and Carson Streets that was financed by the City of Las Vegas and another anonymous donation. This allowed the League time to locate a permanent land site in the Historic District in Downtown Las Vegas and to raise monies to purchase it. The permanent site for the Whitehead House, located at the corner of 9th Street and East Bridger Avenue, was purchased by grant funds obtained from the Commission on Cultural Affairs whose purpose is to fund the rehabilitation of historic structures throughout Nevada for historic preservation and to repurpose them as community historic cultural resource centers with set requirements for public access. Shortly before the Whitehead House was to be moved from the temporary site to its permanent site in July of 2000, it was burned down by vagrants.

Since the land had already been purchased for an historic rehabilitation project, the Nevada Commission on Cultural Affairs allowed the Junior League to find another suitable historic structure for historic preservation and rehabilitation for the site. At the time of the fire, Steve Wynn was buying up all the homes on the former Country Club Estates for demolition to make way for the Wynn Resort and his company informed the Junior League about the possibility of the Morelli House as a substitute structure. The 2830 square foot house that was originally built by Antonio Morelli in l959 had been identified by the UNLV School of Architecture as the home most worthy of saving on the DI Estates because of its original, non- altered condition, its classic mid-century residential design, and its provenance associated with Morelli’s career as the orchestra leader of the at the former .

1

The Morelli House was then donated to the Junior League by its current owner, Kay Glenn. The insurance settlement from the Whitehead House fire financed the move of the Morelli House to the land originally purchased for the Whitehead House. Hence, the Whitehead House Preservation Project became the Morelli House Preservation Project.

Once the Morelli House was placed on the land, an expansive soil problem had to be rectified before Morelli House could be set on its new foundation. The Junior League’s Endowment Board mounted a major fundraiser within the League’s membership and additional grant funds were obtained from the Commission on Cultural Affairs to rectify the soil and resettle the house. Further restorations and requirements were completed to obtain the certificate of occupancy from the City of Las Vegas. Many in-kind contributions by local tradesmen and construction companies helped to complete this complicated and expensive task.

After the certificate of occupancy was obtained, the Junior League moved its headquarters into the Morelli House. Since the Morelli House was much smaller than the Whitehead House, the projected income through office rentals to finance the needed improvements, repairs and maintenance of the house was no longer possible. As a result, a lease agreement between the main Junior League organization and the Endowment was developed which would cover the immediate major repairs and improvements needed, that would also eventually fund the required public access and interpretive programming for the property and even allocate surplus monies to increase the balance in the Endowment Fund, which in turn provides a portion of the annual interest of the fund back to the main organization for its current community projects.

At that point, the Junior League still needed to honor its agreements and covenants with the Nevada Commission on Cultural Affairs for the grant funds it had already received for the land and resettlement costs. These included the completion of interior and exterior restorations in compliance with the “US Secretary of the Interior’s Standards of Rehabilitation for Historic Buildings” and the establishment of an annual public access program for the Morelli House to serve as a “community cultural resource center” through December, 2017.

So that the Junior League could showcase the Morelli House in a pristine and accurate condition and begin its required public access program, the majority of the necessary and cosmetic interior and exterior repairs and renovations were completed by early 2007 financed mostly by another grant obtained from the Nevada Commission on Cultural Affairs in 2006. As an added bonus, Vladimir Kagan, internationally known as “the grandfather of modern furniture design,” donated the furniture for the project and personally provided decorating advisement. The Endowment Board completed the final required restorations for the historic property development in compliance with the “Standards of Rehabilitation” by June, 2009. Since then, the Junior League’s Endowment Board has continued its stewardship responsibilities for the property and its responsibilities as the landlord of the property by addressing major repairs, improvements, and further property enhancements including its successful and highly detailed nomination submission for its listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.

2

Though a few events open to members of the public had already been held at the Morelli House before 2007, the public access program for the Morelli House was officially begun at its public debut held on April 9, 2007. After the public debut, the responsibility for the public access and interpretive program for the Morelli House, which had been initiated by the Endowment, was transferred to a separate committee established for that purpose in 2007, the Morelli House Public Program Committee. Even though 12 public access opportunities are required annually by the agreement with the Nevada Commission on Cultural Affairs; the Morelli House Public Program has well exceeded this expectation. From 2007 through FY 2016, the Morelli House Public Program Committee has annually offered pre-scheduled group tours, venue bookings for other non-profit organizations, public open houses, and special public educational programs relating to the mid-century Las Vegas history represented by the house and its original owners, Antonio and Helen Morelli. The committee has researched and produced publications, a website, and exhibits to enhance the viewing and interpretive experience for its visitors. The annual budget allocated by the Endowment Board for the Morelli Public Program has been augmented by numerous grant awards and in-kind donations obtained through the committee’s efforts and by creative collaborations and partnerships for programming with other organizations and historical institutions in the community.

As of this report, the Junior League of Las Vegas has successfully completed the Nevada Commission on Cultural Affairs’ covenants’ requirements for its historic property development in accordance with the “US Secretary of the Interior’s Standards of Rehabilitation for Historic Buildings” and there is still one more year left to fulfill the additional covenant obligation for the public’s access to the Morelli House through its public programming until the end of 2017. After that benchmark date, it will be up to the Junior League’s Endowment Board to determine the continuation of the Morell House public access programs, but the Morelli House property will always remain as Junior League’s permanent gift to the community as a highly recognized, and treasured, historic preservation site in Las Vegas.

Dn 11/15/16

3