Saturday, April 11, 1998 | 3:27 a.m.
The painters of the Golden Gate Bridge are thought to have a Sisyphean task: They spend the whole year touching up the paint on the bridge, and by the time they finish the job, it's time to start the process all over again.
It's a little like that with our local parks: By the time we've finished updating and renovating all of the existing parks, it's time to go back and do it all over again.
Doesn't leave a lot of time for adding new ones.
Nevertheless, in between routine upkeep, such as shoring up the lake at Sunset Park from erosion, and improvements, such as adding ballfield lighting at Orr and Von Tobel Middle Schools, the city and county both squeezed in time to build three new parks which have opened since last season: The long-awaited Rainbow Family Park, Rafael Rivera, and Grapevine Springs.
And, with spring in the air, the parks departments plan to be as productive as rabbits in the coming months.
By June, a $2 million county park adjacent to Kenny Guinn Middle School on west Flamingo Road will debut Las Vegas' first skateboarding park, inspired by one in Huntington Beach, Calif.
Already, flocks of kids have been sneaking onto the site after the construction workers go home, says Glenn Trowbridge, director of the county parks and recreation department.
"It's going to be immensely popular," he said. "The highest feature is 18 inches high, so it's safe, you can't hurt yourself, but you still have plenty of opportunity to challenge yourself."
Another 20-acre, $3.65 million county park at Maryland Parkway and Wigwam Avenue, is currently being built and named by the students of Beatty Elementary.
Also in the works: a new city park adjacent to the Rainbow Library, upgraded fields at Ed Fountain park and four new soccer fields at the Gowan Basin by June.
If summertime means cooling off, you'll have to wait until September to use the newly renovated Municipal Swimming Pool. That's the bad news.
The good news? The year-round Olympic-sized pool will be partially covered by a glass shelter, making it usable in the autumn months.
Also opening soon are two more community centers, the Helen Meyer Community Center at Paul Meyer Park, scheduled to open next week, and, in July, the first phase of Desert Breeze's $4.3 million community center, which will ultimately feature a pool, basketball courts and the county's second indoor gymnasium, with weights for gym rats who can't afford the Las Vegas Athletic Club.
To top it all off, by year's end, the city is anticipating a $5 million, privately funded 18-acre sports complex built at Vegas Drive and Durango Drive by former County Commissioner Don Schlesinger's Las Vegas Sportspark Ltd. It will include three ballfields, an ice and roller skating rinks.
Ironically, according to an October telephone survey commissioned by the city, Las Vegans put a sports complex at the very bottom of their wish list, behind their desire for more trails for walking or biking, more sports fields and more recreation centers.
And someday, the city might actually fulfill those desires -- its 10-year-plan calls for developing a total of 734.5 acres of land, building five new swimming pools and five new recreation centers.
But, as some have pointed out, fulfilling these plans would barely bring us up to date on what we already need today -- needed yesterday, really.
Time to start painting, again.
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