Fallon City Hall added to state's historic register

Fallon City Hall, built in 1931 in response to the town's growth since its incorporation in 1907, was added to the State Register of Historic Places this month by the Nevada Board of Museums and History, said Ron James State Historic Preservation officer.

"The building is important because it represents the growth and development of Fallon as a result of a national irrigation program aimed at making the arid far West more productive and open to settlement," said Mella Harmon, architectural historian with the State Historic Preservation Office.

The building is also architecturally significant. Pre-eminent Reno architect Frederick DeLongchamps designed it in the Spanish Colonial Revival style promoted at the 1915 Panama-California Exposition in San Diego. According to Harmon, the style was popular until the 1940s, but the city hall is a rare example.

Also added was Reno's Pioneer Theater-Auditorium, built in 1967 as a downtown convention center and theater. Now called the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts, the building was added to the State Register for its exceptional significance in Reno's growth and unique golden dome.

"The building is especially important as Nevada's only surviving gold-anodized geodesic dome," James said.

"This type of dome was promoted by Richard Buckminster Fuller, who based his design on the notion that the triangle is the strongest shape in nature and could therefore cover large expanses with less material and less money than traditional buildings."

The Pioneer Theater played an important role in the expansion of Reno's cultural milieu at the middle of the 20th century and is now the eastern anchor of Reno's burgeoning arts and culture district.

The State Register is Nevada's official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation.

For a current list of properties in the National Register of Historic Places and the State Register of Historic Places, go to www.NevadaCulture.org (click on SHPO).

For information, call Mella Harmon at 775-684-3447 or e-mail mrharmon@clan.lib.nv.us