Why Cashman Center never caught on

Cashman Center never caught on as a premier Las Vegas destination.

Located in the Cultural Corridor in Downtown Las Vegas, the 50-acre center, which includes a theater, warehouse showrooms and a field, is up for auction starting at $33.95 million.

The center has seen many shining eras, with Major League Baseball games taking place there in the ‘50s. Although, for most of its history it has been home to local craft shows or recitals and has now fallen into disrepair.

Even with the copious space and amenities, the center never quite took off, and it’s all about: location, location, location.

“The irony is that it is surrounded by something the city and those outside the city have promoted, which is history,” said Michael Green, history professor at UNLV. “The Mormon Fort and the Natural History Museum and the Neon Museum all being right there, but I’m not sure how you tie that kind of space to historic sites and museums.”

James ‘Big Jim’ Cashman Sr.

Before it was Cashman Center, in 1948 it was just Elks Stadium at Cashman Field and Las Vegas icon James ‘Big Jim’ Cashman Sr. was the driving force and, of course, namesake behind it.

“There’s been a quote: ‘it was hard to say no to Big Jim,’” said Green. “He was a Chamber of Commerce community mover, type.”

It all started with the Las Vegas Elks, a local charitable organization, with Big Jim as their main leader. In 1935, the Elks started the beloved, still-running local event: Helldorado Days — which happened this year in early November.

As the Helldorado Days continued, the Elks were looking for a more permanent location to hold the event. Big Jim was instrumental in acquiring the land from the Union Pacific Railroad that became the Elks Stadium at Cashman Field.

The field soon became home to the Las Vegas Wranglers of the Class C Sunset League in 1948 — in present day, there is no such thing as Class C or the Sunset League.

Furthermore, in 1954 the site held that fall’s World Series exhibition games where the New York Giants, now San Francisco Giants and the Cleveland Indians, now Cleveland Guardians, played. Additionally, in 1964 the American Football League held a preseason game between the Houston Oilers, now Tennessee Titans, and Oakland Raiders, now Las Vegas Raiders.

“The area fell into disrepair,” said Green. “I can remember growing up in the ‘70s seeing the cement bleachers with weeds growing, and the fields that disappeared were just weeds and dirt.”

LVCVA steps in

By the ‘80s, Cashman Field needed a facelift and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority stepped in. In 1983, LVCVA took over management of the field and gave it a $26 million facelift and expansion.

The new expansion made Cashman Field into Cashman Center, adding a 100,000-square-foot convention center, a 1,954-seat theater, 16 meeting rooms and a 9,000-seat stadium, building atop the now defunct Elks Stadium.

“The AAA Las Vegas Stars, later the 51s, now the Aviators started playing there in 1983 and Las Vegas got to see the likes of Tony Gwynn,” said Green. “It has been one of the most successful franchises in the Minor League ever since.”

The theater held everything from Broadway shows such as “Les Miserables” and “Phantom of the Opera” to Bridal Spectacular wedding expo and even a 2008 Democratic presidential debate.

Growing competition

As Las Vegas kept growing, Cashman Center could not keep up with its competition. In 2005, the World Market Center opened its doors and became a premier space for conventions. The Smith Center for the Performing Arts opened in 2012.

By 2008, there were already talks of handing over control of the center to the city.

“I think that with the growth of the Strip and UNLV having its performing arts facilities, it was easier to put the bigger events in those locations,” said Green. “I would be willing to make a guess that the acoustics were probably better in places on the Strip and at a UNLV.”

By 2017, LVCVA had other priorities while it entered the second phase of its $1.4 billion expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center, which was finished in 2021.

On June 1, 2017, LVCVA handed over the operations of Cashman Center to the city of Las Vegas, subsequently closing the exhibition center and theater. LVCVA relinquished Cashman Field in 2019 when the Aviators moved to their stadium in Downtown Summerlin.

The Moscow Ballet was the final performance at the theater in December 2017.

Although, amid the transfer, soccer team Las Vegas Lights FC moved into the stadium in 2018 — sharing with the Aviators for one year — and continues to play at the field, now the only occupants of the entire 50-acre campus.

The future of Cashman

In 2020, Cashman Center was used as a temporary homeless shelter during the COVID-19 pandemic after Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada temporarily closed their men’s shelter after someone tested positive. Additionally, the center was used as a vaccination site through 2021.

Since its closure in 2017, the center has been shopped around by the city to potential buyers, but was continually rejected.

First, it was pitched to the Raiders in 2016 during preliminary talks to move the football team to Las Vegas.

Then, offered to Amazon as a site for a potential second headquarters in Las Vegas in 2018 in a 113-page proposal.

In 2022, the city entered into talks with Tru Development to open a mixed-use medical center with a children’s hospital, which never materialized.

And, in 2024, the city offered the land to the Oakland A’s for their new stadium, even offering to acquire more land, but it was denied.

“I think it (Cashman) was probably enmeshed in local culture for a period of time, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of room to develop around there in the way that there was so much space on the Strip,” said Green.

Finally, after seven years of owning the land, the city approved a resolution to sell the entire site — ballpark, exhibition space, theater, parking lots and all — in an online auction starting at $33.95 million. The auction will run for one week from Nov. 12 to Nov. 19. and by Dec. 4 the City Council will accept the bid or deny all.

Contact Emerson Drewes at edrewes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @EmersonDrewes on X.