3/2/2021
Discovering The Smith Center
Many people forge happy memories at The Smith Center — yet few know the inspiring story behind its beloved namesakes, the late Fred W. and Mary B. Smith.
In fact, Fred — during his tenure as chairman of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation — approved record-setting donations that made the very opening of The Smith Center possible.
“(The Smith family) understood that this really wasn’t just an arts project, but a community project that was going to change the face of Las Vegas,” says Myron Martin, president and CEO of The Smith Center.
With March 2021 marking the couple’s 60th wedding anniversary, The Smith Center looks back on how Fred and Mary Smith helped make history in Southern Nevada.
An Impossible Dream
In the early 1990s, a group of community leaders gathered in downtown Las Vegas to pursue something that many deemed impossible: creating a world-class performing arts center for Southern Nevada.
The obstacles proved great, including raising $470 million “during the greatest economic downturn in our state’s history,” Martin recalls.
Many levels of government helped secure funding and land for the project, including the City of Las Vegas, the state legislature and Clark County.
Beyond that, private support truly made this dream a reality — especially donations from the Vegas-based Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, chaired by Las Vegas resident and retired media executive Fred Smith.
An Inspiring Donation
The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation’s support for creating a performing arts center in Las Vegas came as a surprise.
When Martin and Don Snyder — board chairman for the project — initially approached the philanthropic organization for funds, it felt like a lost cause.
“The foundation Chair Fred Smith said, ‘That’s a really great project, but that’s not what we do,’” Martin recalls. “We thought that was the end of that.”
Three months later, however, Fred met with Snyder for a heart-to-heart chat.
Fred revealed that he had approved for the foundation to donate $50 million for the center.
Beyond that, Fred added, his family would also donate $1 million personally.
“Then Fred, for one of the few times I ever saw him laugh, rolled his head back, had a big laugh, and said, ‘Ha, now I bet you wish you’d have asked for more,’” Snyder remembers.
The foundation’s incredible contribution secured Fred and his wife Mary as the namesakes for The Smith Center.
Saving The Day… Again
Fundraising to build The Smith Center continued with the support of 57 community members, the center’s Founders, each donating $1 million or more.
The future looked bright… Until the 2007 recession hit.
Contributions slowed, potentially forestalling construction of the center for years.
That is, until the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation saved the day again.
Under Fred’s leadership, the foundation stepped up once more to donate another $100 million, ensuring the construction’s timely completion.
The foundation’s combined gifts of $150 million totaled one of the largest performing arts donations in U.S. history. The Smith Center remains the recipient of the largest single contribution ever given by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, which Smith chaired for 25 years.
During The Smith center’s opening night celebration in March 2012, Fred took center stage with Martin and Snyder to welcome everyone to Southern Nevada’s new cultural gem.
“That was one of the many high points in an incredibly memorable evening,” Snyder says.
Honoring The Smiths
Beyond its name, The Smith Center pays homage to Fred and Mary Smith in myriad ways.
The center’s address at 361 Symphony Park Ave. honors the couple’s wedding anniversary of March 1961. A bronze statue of the beaming couple stands outside the center’s box office to welcome visitors.
Inside, the center’s walls feature delicate design elements that incorporate lilies — Mary’s favorite flower. The center’s Dee and Don Snyder Founders Room even includes a Razorback hog statue, on loan from Mary’s personal collection of hogs, gathered out of devotion to the University of Arkansas Razorbacks.
Martin still points to the donations Fred approved as the turning point in making The Smith Center a reality.
“The Smith Center is here because of Fred Smith and the Donald W. Reynolds foundation,” Martin says.