Monday, Sept. 12, 2005 | 10:55 a.m.
Las Vegas' newest and largest city park is already open to the public even though the formal grand openings for the tennis complex and the soccer fields have yet to occur.
The roughly mile-long, 110-acre park stretches from Durango to Buffalo drives, between Washington Avenue and Summerlin Parkway. For now the park is going by the name Buffalo-Washington Park, but it will probably get a more permanent name in a year or so, said City Councilman Larry Brown, whose ward includes the park.
Brown said there is discussion of selling the naming rights for the whole park to a corporate sponsor, while the soccer fields could be named for local residents who had an impact on local soccer. The tennis complex, a 23-court facility that is already hosting its first tournament, is named the Stacy and Amanda Darling Memorial Tennis Center.
The park is expected to put the city in a position to attract large-scale tournaments for tennis and soccer -- at least one of which has already been secured -- plus provide local sports leagues and residents with a new place to play and exercise.
In addition to the soccer and tennis facilities, the park has three dog runs, two large playground and picnic areas and a nearly 2-mile, 30-foot-wide track that runs around the park.
"It's unbelievable," Brown said. "This is the largest project the city has undertaken as far as its size."
Planning for the park began in the mid-1990s, Brown said, adding that a city needs assessment showed great demand for more soccer fields and tennis courts.
As soon as the park formally opens, Brown predicted. it "will be as busy as any in the valley," attracting residents from the neighborhoods on both sides of Summerlin Parkway, and the scores of league games looking for a place to play.
Tim Sutko, a senior hydrologist with the Clark County Flood Control District and avid tennis player, said the new Darling center is a boon for local tennis players.
"It's about time, and it's a great addition to the area," Sutko said.
"Prior to this, a tennis player had to chase courts around. There would be two courts here or three courts there and you'd get there and have to wait, sometimes hours, for others to finish their games, or drive around looking for an open court.
"Having 23 courts there, I would expect that would be rare," Sutko said.
The center, named for sisters Stacy and Amanda who were killed in a 1993 automobile accident, will formally open to the public Sept. 19. The city is hoping to lure a February 2006 ATP men's tennis tournament to the complex, which is already seeing tournament play.
The new parks' 11 soccer fields include seven artificial turf fields. A ceremonial opening of the fields is expected around the end of October, with league play beginning within the next two weeks or so.
The entire park cost about $41 million, and was paid for with city funds plus a $1 million donation from the Amanda and Stacy Darling Memorial Foundation. The land on which the park sits is leased from the Bureau of Land Management for free for the next 10 years with options to extend the arrangement, city officials said. The city is expected to eventually own the land, officials said.
Guy Hobbs, a public finance consultant known for his role as an advisor on government budget issues, is also president of U.S. Youth Soccer of Nevada.
Hobbs said the new park provides safer fields for players -- the new artificial turf fields are without the sprinkler heads or worn spots of older natural grass fields -- and gives the area enough soccer fields to attract national tournaments.
When combined with the soccer fields at the nearby Bettye Wilson Soccer Complex, the Summerlin area has 21 full-sized fields, which Hobbs said made him able to bring the 2007 Far West Regional Soccer Championships to the two facilities.
Hobbs said the tournament will have the economic impact of a medium-sized convention, with more than 250 teams of boys and girls ages 12 to 19 coming to the event.
"It's probably 30,000 to 35,000 hotel room nights," Hobbs said.
archive
