“So my board basically said, ‘Yes, you can start that community [Summerlin] out there, but you will have to raise the money to do it.’” Thus began John Goolsby’s adventure in master planning and developing Howard Hughes’s 25,000 acres of raw Clark County land. In 1980, four years after Hughes died intestate, Hughes’s Summa Corporation hired Goolsby, a San Antonio, Texas, accountant and real estate professional. His task was to manage Hughes’s extensive portfolio of real estate, the value of which was tied to and dependent on Southern Nevada’s continued economic growth. In this interview, Goolsby and his wife, Judy, recall their first impressions of Southern Nevada’s neighborhoods and schools; share their experiences of building two custom homes—one in Green Valley and one in Summerlin; and Judy describes her early meetings with John’s boss (and Summa’s president and Howard Hughes’s cousin), the genteel William R. Lummis: “I was scared to death of the man. I had never been exposed to anybody like him.” Hughes’s acreage to the West of Las Vegas offered Goolsby the unique opportunity to master plan and build an entire new community from the ground up. He assembled a team that spent two years visiting, researching, and questioning why some master-planned communities succeeded and others did not. They eventually evolved a strategy that included “good schools, good parks, open space, community activities, all the things that Summerlin has today.” They began planning in 1983 and broke ground in 1989. Goolsby’s tenure with Summa reveals larger trends in corporate restructuring in the 1990s through the real estate collapse of 2009. Corporate name changes tell the story: in 1980 Goolsby was hired by Summa Corporation as vice president for real estate; in 1988 the board named him president and in 1990 president and CEO. In 1994 Summa renamed itself The Howard Hughes Corporation. Hughes Corporation was acquired in 1996 by the Rouse Company, although Rouse maintained Summerlin as a separate economic entity with an earn-out agreement. Goolsby retired from Rouse in 1998, but he continued to help manage the earn-out agreement to insure that the Hughes owners received all they were entitled to. In 2004, General Growth Properties purchased Rouse, but a 2009 GGP bankruptcy ended the earn-out agreement. Since 2011, Summerlin has been owned by a GGP spinoff named—ironically—the Howard Hughes Corporation.

Information about the Fishers Inn Motel sign that sits at 3565 Boulder Hwy.
Site address: 3565 Boulder Hwy
Sign owner: Maiya LLC
Sign details: The construction of the motel was in 1963. This location was previously the Comet Motel but the Fisher's bought it in 1987 and changed the name to Fisher's Inn Motel.
Sign condition: 5 - received new paint in 2017
Sign form: Raised roadside sign
Sign-specific description: This sign has a thin white steel beam base with plastic backlit sign that currently advertises ESPN, HBO, Over 150 channels and Free Wifi. Above the reader board is a rectangular (but has a curved portion to the top of it) blue sign that states "FI" on top in a cursive font, underneath in a block white font states "A Fisher's Inn". Underneath "A Fisher's Inn" there is are big yellow "MOTEL" block font letters with a simple "No Vacancy" skeletal neon beneath it. At night the "FI" illuminates yellow, "A Fisher's Inn" green, " MOTEL" red, "NO VACANCY" is blue, but on the top portion of the sign there is white skeletal neon in the shape of possibly a Fisherman's hat.
Sign - type of display: Neon and backlit plastic sign
Sign - media: Steel and plastic
Sign - non-neon treatments: Backlit plastic sign
Sign environment: This motel is on Boulder Highway, close to the 515 and is near other motels and car sales lots.
Sign - date of installation: c. 1987
Sign - date of redesign/move: 2017 painted blue when it used to be green
Sign - artistic significance: There's a good use of multiple colors on this sign. As well as repurposing older signs from previous property has been a major trend for signs in Vegas. Good example of skeletal neon.
Survey - research locations: Assessor's website
Survey - research notes: Bookings website gives hotel info https://www.booking.com/hotel/us/a-fishers- inn-motel.html
Surveyor: Emily Fellmer
Survey - date completed: 2017-09-16
Sign keywords: Neon; Backlit; Plastic; Steel; Roadside

The "Mole" Jarva Tunnel Borer pokes its nose out of the tunnel through mountain as work on the Las Vegas River Mountains Project progresses. The first stage of construction was completed between 1968-1971, and is comprised of a main aqueduct, a 3.78 mile tunnel through the River Mountains, eight pumping plants, and 31.4 miles of pipeline. This stage has a peaking capacity of 26.7 million cubic feet of potable water per day. The second stage enlarged the first stage system by expanding some of the existing facilities. New features included five pumping plants, the second barrel to the main aqueduct, and about 30 miles of pipeline and laterals with surge tanks, regulating tanks, and other delivery facilities. In conjunction with this stage, the State of Nevada enlarged and modified the Alfred Merritt Smith water treatment facilities to accommodate additional water supplies. The River Mountains Tunnel was constructed to full capacity in the first stage, and the Saddle Island intake facilities were oversized to accommodate both stages. The aqueduct system has a peaking capability of 53.4 million cubic feet of water per day. The River Mountains Tunnel was constructed during the first stage to accommodate second stage expansion. It is 3.78 miles long and was excavated through the River Mountains, which lie between Las Vegas Valley and Lake Mead. The concrete-lined tunnel has an inside diameter of 121.5 inches, and a maximum capacity of 608 cfs. The SNWA also constructed a larger tunnel, parallel to the River Mountains Tunnel for further expansion. The River Mountains Tunnel is used to convey raw water from Lake Mead to the River Mountains Water Treatment Facility that SNWA constructed near Henderson, NV. The River Mountains Facility, which began delivering treated water in October 2002, treats up to 300 million gallons of water per day, and was designed so it can expand to meet Southern Nevada's needs. In the future, the River Mountains facility will be able to treat up to 600 million gallons of water a day. This facility provides additional reliability and capacity to Southern Nevada's municipal water treatment and distribution capabilities.