Park pace: Officials hope report will help them meet growing recreation need

Diana Sahagun

Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2001 | 10:36 a.m.

With the opening this year of six new parks, totaling 123 acres, the city of Las Vegas has exceeded an annual goal to provide a growing population with sufficient space for recreation and relaxation.

But city officials, facing dwindling revenues and increasing demand, are in no position to take it easy.

Each year -- for the next 20 years -- the city must add 77.5 acres of open space to meet its ultimate goal of providing 2.5 acres of park space for every 1,000 residents.

The city currently has 49 parks with a ratio of 1.6 acres of park space per 1,000 residents.

To guide the planning of new parks and recreation facilities in an uncertain economy, the City Council on Wednesday received a community needs assessment report -- the first comprehensive report of its kind -- regarding parks and recreation facilities around the Las Vegas Valley. The report, which also takes into account demographic information, was developed during the past year to establish criteria and prioritize current and future parks and recreation programs.

The city in March 2000 adopted a parks element master plan, which came at a time when the city had 1.1 acres of park space per 1,000 residents. The Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition set a valleywide goal of supplying 2.5 acres of park space per 1,000 residents, a plan the city has adopted.

John McNellis, deputy public works director, said that since the plan was adopted, the city has exceeded an annual goal of adding 77.5 acres of open space; 92 acres were added in 2000. The city currently has 807 acres of park space, he said.

This year the city opened the All American Park at Buffalo Drive and Oakey Boulevard; Police Memorial Park at Cheyenne Avenue and Metro Academy Way; Gowan South at Cheyenne and Ronemus Drive; and Estelle Neal Park at Tropical Parkway and Serene Drive. The city also expanded Bunker Park at Tenaya Way and Alexander Road and opened the second phase of Mountain Ridge Park at the corner of Elkhorn Road and Durango Drive.

More than a dozen parks are currently either under design or construction, including Pioneer Park at the corner of Pioneer Way and Braswell Drive; a park at Redwood Street and Oakey Boulevard; and a soccer park at the Community College of Southern Nevada near Charleston Boulevard.

The report also includes a complete inventory of city parks and facilities, in addition to private recreation facilities. Each park includes demographic information on the surrounding area so that the city can better plan programming and amenities related to the new parks.

Stacy Allsbrook of the city's Leisure Services division said details about the surrounding community will ensure the city is making the best use of funding allocated for recreation programs and parks.

The report will be updated periodically, she said.

McNellis said before the city received the report the department provided parks as a result of a "gut reaction" as to what was needed in the community based on meetings with nearby residents.

"The statistical data should give us a stronger basis for what the true need for the community is," he said. "That's what we're hoping as we start park creation in a neighborhood, that at least we can start with stronger building blocks."

The report was completed with the help of Magellan Research, which surveyed area residents. More than 1,000 people responded to the phone survey.

More than 68 percent of those polled said that renovating older parks should be the clear choice for parks spending. Building new parks, increasing police park presence and increased services for low-income areas, the disabled and seniors also drew considerable support.

Building more swimming pools and public golf courses was considered the least attractive way to spend tax dollars, according to the poll.

Those polled backed the city's efforts over the past year to build new facilities at parks, including two skate parks and additional tennis courts. In the past, McNellis said, a park constituted green grass. Today, however, residents are asking for things such as skateboard parks, walking trails and dog runs.

"People aren't as complacent to just roll around in the grass anymore," he said. "Every time we go out and interact with a neighborhood, we ask them what they want, and we very seldom hear green grass."