NEWS RELEASE Aug. 1, 2024 Street Fair event to celebrate downtown Overton project completion The Moapa Valley Water District
(MVWD) is gearing up for a major community celebration this weekend to mark the official conclusion of its downtown Overton improvement project. A ribbon cutting event, as well as a morning street fair will be held in the downtown Overton business district on Saturday, August 17. All are welcome to attend and celebrate the positive new changes to the main street area. The street fair will kick off at 7 am. Festivities will be centered around the Custom Fit (140 N. Moapa Valley Blvd) and Millett Insurance (120 N. Moapa Valley Blvd.) locations. The Moapa Valley Rotary Club will be cooking up a free pancake breakfast that morning, all courtesy of County Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick who will be in attendance. In addition, the Second Saturday market, which usually takes place at the Clark County Fairgrounds, will be holding its event that morning and moving its many vendor booths downtown to the street fair venue. The Moapa Valley Chamber of Commerce will be holding a passbook prize drawing during the event. Attendees will be issued a special event passbook. This can be taken to various downtown businesses to be stamped. Once the required number of stamps are obtained, the book can be entered into the prize drawing. Prize packages include a 55-inch smart TV, two stadium chairs with a gift certificate for Xtreme Stitch to embroider a logo of the winner’s choice on them, and gift certificates to The Front Porch/Ink & Amethyst. In the midst of these downtown festivities, at 9 am, a celebratory ribbon cutting will be held at the “Welcome to Overton” sign at the intersection of Moapa Valley Blvd. and Cooper Street. Commissioner Kirkpatrick and Nevada Dept. of Transportation Deputy Director Mario Gomez will both be there to cut the ceremonial ribbon on the project.
“This project has really changed the face of our downtown area for the better, and for generations to come,” said MVWD General Manager Joe Davis. “So we felt like a major community celebration was in order. It will also be a good opportunity for members of the community to express gratitude to Commissioner Kirkpatrick and Mr. Gomez for their help in bringing funding to the table to make this project possible.” The project started as a much-needed update and expansion to MVWD water distribution lines running through the downtown area. The district had set ample funding aside to replace the pipeline, but paving costs exceeding $2 million had put the project out of reach for the small rural entity. Kirkpatrick was able to appropriate $2.4 million in Clark County funds to make the project possible. Included in that were also funds to beautify the downtown business district, make it more pedestrian friendly, and begin developing the area as an inviting destination for visitors. Downtown improvements in this project have included landscaped curb bumpouts, eighteen new shade trees along the streetscape, bicycle lanes, added crosswalks and more. “We are excited and pleased to be celebrating the completion of this important project,” said Davis. “We hope that the community will come out on Saturday morning to celebrate with us!”
Photo caption: A ceremonial ribbon cutting and downtown street fair celebrating the completion of the downtown Overton project will be held at the “Welcome to Overton” sign on Saturday morning.