Karen Avenue named for Thomas & Mack co-developer’s daughter

The partnership between Parry Thomas and Jerome D. Mack, two Las Vegas pioneers, began with a land development downtown and in Paradise that -- in some ways -- centered around Karen Avenue.

"I had always heard that piece of property was the beginning of the Thomas and Mack partnership," said Karen Mack Goldsmith, Mack's daughter and Karen Avenue's namesake.

Thomas said the partnership began with a deal from Mack's father, Nate Mack.

"Nate Mack arranged for us to buy the acreage on San Francisco Street, which is Sahara (Avenue) now," Thomas said. "There was a street in the back, and (Mack) wanted to name that street after his daughter, Karen."

The property runs from Paradise Road to Maryland Parkway, according to Goldsmith. Though she is the middle sister among Mack's three daughters, Goldsmith said the street was named for her because the property already included Barbara Way, the name of her youngest sister, and Maryland Parkway, which sounded close enough to Marilyn, the name of her eldest sister.

Goldsmith said she doesn't remember how old she was when her father first pointed out where the street would be, "in the middle of the desert," but she has gained an appreciation for the gesture throughout the years.

"I didn't appreciate the significance of the street until I was older," Goldsmith said. "It's the very first thing they did as partners."

Thomas and Mack worked together for more than 45 years in business and land development. The men ran the Bank of Las Vegas in 1954, currently known as the Valley Bank of Nevada, and co-founded Nevada Southern College, which is now the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The partners added 400 acres to the UNLV campus in 1967, starting its land foundation, and developed the 100-acre McCarran Center, a business park, in 1991. They are the names behind the Thomas & Mack Center, which is home to UNLV Runnin' Rebels men's basketball games and other events.

Mack, who moved to Las Vegas with his family in 1929 at age 9, was among the first graduates of Boulder City Grammar School, was a 1938 alumnus of Las Vegas High School and a 1941 graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles . Throughout his life, Mack was active in the Las Vegas Valley's Jewish community and served as president of the Four Queens Hotel and the Riviera. He died in 1998.

Goldsmith, who, like her father graduated from UCLA, is an author and executive film producer in Los Angeles. Her novels, "Literacy and Longing in L.A. " and "A Version of the Truth," are Los Angeles Times bestsellers, and she has won awards for several television shows and movies.

Her name may appear on books and in film credits in Los Angeles, but the significance of Goldsmith's family centers around Thomas and Mack's 80-acre property in Las Vegas. Apartment buildings, Commercial Center and Jerome D. Mack Middle School are among the buildings and businesses on Karen Avenue.

But Goldsmith sees something beyond the buildings on a development that sparked one of the most influential partnerships in the valley.

"That piece of property is important from an historical standpoint," Goldsmith said. "When I go on that road (Karen Avenue) and I look at Thomas & Mack arena, I think about that partnership."

Contact Paradise/Downtown View reporter Lisa Carter at lcarter@viewnews.com or 383-4686.