$5 million sports complex OK’d

Denise Cardinal

Tuesday, July 15, 1997 | 9:37 a.m.

A $5 million sports complex planned by former County Commissioner Don Schlesinger was approved by the Las Vegas City Council at a meeting where more than 100 residents showed up to voice their opinions on the project.

The council voted 4-1 Monday, with Councilman Larry Brown casting the lone nay vote, for the facility, which will house three softball fields, an ice rink and a roller rink at Vegas and Durango drives.

The project is a private/public partnership involving Schlesinger and two partners (known as Las Vegas Sportspark Ltd.) and the city. Under the agreement, Las Vegas Sportspark develops, maintains and manages the park, which remains on city-owned land.

The parcel was given to the city by the federal Bureau of Land Management for recreational purposes and still needs final approval from the agency before Schlesinger can break ground. Part of the agreement, as approved by Schlesinger and the council at the meeting, is that he will never apply for a gaming or liquor license for the facility -- a provision that allayed many fears of the council and residents.

Even with the project still on hold for the BLM, Schlesinger was ecstatic and relieved that the item was finally put to a vote -- the project had been postponed for several months and he had to perform bureaucratic gymnastics to get there.

"I am grateful the City Council gave its approval," he said. If approved by the BLM, the park could break ground this fall and be completed in about a year. "It's going to be a wonderful community asset."

According to some critics, Schlesinger still didn't jump through enough hoops. Some of the valley's other ice and roller rink owners complained that they weren't given the same opportunity as Schlesinger to build rinks.

"Do we need to give this land away?" asked David Morgan, owner of Crystal Palace, a roller rink center. "If it is needed, the private sector will build it. Why didn't it go to bid? Everyone would want to bid on it if the city's so willing to give it away."

Other citizens complained that the residents in the area weren't given enough notice about the council's decision.

"They (the council) don't care about the residents," said Richard Lenz, a resident from near the park and an unsuccessful council candidate earlier this year. He said he collected more than 1,000 signatures in opposition to the park. "They chose to ignore the citizens who live in this area."

The City Council responded to critics of the project by pointing out that the city doesn't really own the land -- since it can't ever sell it. And the council invited any other business owners to submit their proposals to develop empty park land throughout the city. Mayor Jan Laverty Jones noted that the city received none.

As for residents complaining about notice, the council contended that residents had plenty of time to know about the project since it had been discussed in several meetings since last October when the issue was first introduced.

Those attending the meeting seemed equally divided. Most of those in favor of the park were hockey, roller hockey and softball players who said the need for parks in Las Vegas outweighed any other concerns about competitive bidding. Hockey Moms talked about getting up at 2:30 a.m. to bring their kids to practice. Youth hockey coaches talked about paying $250 an hour for ice time. Softball league operators talked about turning down kids who want to play because there's nowhere to practice.

"Kids need a place to play," said Gordon Schmidt, a hockey player and owner of a sports store. "Now they're playing in streets and parking lots."