You may know Clay Heximer. He recently was profiled by writer Geoff Carter in Vegas Seven as "The Man Who Would Be Mid-Town"
But many of us have known Clay for quite some time. He and his wife Denise live in Paradise Palms, the wonderful Mid-Century Modern housing tract that surrounds the National Golf Course, just off Desert Inn behind the Boulevard Mall.
When I was growing up in Las Vegas in the 1960s, the National Golf Course was then known as the Stardust Golf Course. But it wasn't the golf course that caught my eye. It was the houses, most of which were visible from the car as you drove down East Desert Inn.
Those wonderful Palmer and Krisel were space age wonders and very different from the Sproul homes in my own neighborhood in Charleston Heights.
Clay and Denise live in Paradise Palms and their successful community outreach and history sharing has inspired many of their neighbors to learn more about their homes and the history of the neighborhood.
Clay started a website dedicated to the neighborhood, called appropriately enough, Paradise Palms and, like Joel Rosales, has been photographing the changing landscape of the city and the county.
Clay has been organizing and fighting to bring Historic Preservation ordinances to Clark County and he has been successful in convincing others to join his cause.
As we close Preservation Month and the Preservation Spotlight series winds down, it was important to me to include a grass-roots leader of history and preservation in the series.
Clay graciously agreed to answer some questions and spread the word about the importance of our neighborhoods, all of our historic neighborhoods.
CLV Blog: How did you become interested in preserving Southern Nevada history?
Heximer: Before moving to town I remember taking a family trip to Las Vegas. I recall sitting in the back of my uncle’s station wagon, driving down the strip. I was in awe of all the neon but I specifically thought the Stardust sign was the coolest thing ever. Since then, I just knew there was something special about this place and had gained an appreciation for classic Vegas.
When I was 19, I worked with a construction company that was contracted the prep the Dunes for implosion. I remember being taken back by the celebration of the destruction of our history and was shocked by the disregard for
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