Nighttime recreation a result of LV's climate

Parks are usually associated with children playing and sunshine. In Las Vegas this description would be half right.

Children do play in valley parks, but many of them have their fun after dark.

"We try to come to the park at night at least once a week," Larry Hodin said as he and his wife, Sonya, watched their 2-year-old son, Ryan, play at Desert Breeze Park in northwest Las Vegas. "Our son is still little, so we like to bring him at night to keep him out of the heat."

Many area residents seem to feel the same way as county and city parks often get busier as it gets later.

"It's too hot during the day," Rich Barnes said at Sunset Park about 9 p.m. Tuesday. "We used to play softball in the day, but at 110 degrees we decided that wasn't a very good idea."

Barnes, who plays for the Aches and Pains softball club, said he and his mostly age 40 and older teammates were cramping up from playing in the daytime at the park at 2601 E. Sunset Road.

The city runs 34 parks that are open everyday until 10 p.m., and the county has 36 parks within its borders that are open until 11 p.m. Many of the county parks, such as Sunset and Desert Breeze, are lighted, and when the lights crackle to life many of the parks start to fill up.

"My friends and I roll through at about 3:30 p.m. and the park is dead," said Andres Valencia, a credit-card collection supervisor who comes to Desert Breeze to relax and play basketball. "It doesn't start to pick up until about 6:30 p.m."

Desert Breeze, one of the county's newer parks, is at the corner of Durango Drive and Desert Inn Road. The park's first phase opened in July, with a playground, playing fields and lighting for nighttime visitors. The park will ultimately become a $4.3 million community center, eventually featuring a swimming pool, the county's second indoor gymnasium and a weight room.

The county's newest park is West Flamingo Park, which opened July 11. The 15-acre park at 6255 W. Flamingo Road includes picnic areas, ballfields, a playground and a skateboard park. Development of the park cost $2.5 million.

More parks are in the works for the city, which is anticipating a $5 million privately funded 18-acre sports complex being built at Vegas Drive and Durango Drive by former County Commissioner Don Schlesinger's Las Vegas Sports Ltd. That complex, which will include three ballfields and ice and roller skating rinks, is expected to be completed by year's end.

The city's 10-year plan for parks calls for developing a total of 734.5 acres of land and building five new swimming pools and five new recreation centers.

Sherry Paciocco, a mother of four, may decide to make use of new parks as they become available, but for now she is happy with Desert Breeze. Paciocco and her children -- ages 13, 12, 10 and 4 -- can often be found at the park at night, but not because they want to get away from the heat.

"I have a real tight schedule, and that's a convenient time for us to go," Paciocco said. "I'm a checker at Vons and I work a morning shift, so I drop all my kids off at school on the way to work.

"After dinner we sometimes go to the park because it's a good time for us to be together. It also wears them out a little bit so I can get some rest."

Families are a big percentage of the park's nighttime visitors, but the majority of people at parks after dark are involved in some sort of sport. Roller hockey, football, rugby, basketball, softball, volleyball and soccer are just some of the sports visitors prefer, Clark County Parks Sports Director Mike Krauss said.

"We have a 350-team softball league, a 25- to 30-team flag football league, an outdoor volleyball league and basketball courts that are very popular with drop-in players," Krauss said. "We probably have about 200 to 300 basketball players a night at our eight Sunset Park courts, and we also have two courts at Desert Breeze."

The courts at Desert Breeze are part of the reason that Mike Lacapra and Mike Madland, both of whom are Nellis Air Force Base military police officers, make the drive from the base to northwest Las Vegas.

"I drive out here almost every night because it's a good way to relax after a stressful day," Lacapra said. "It's a nice atmosphere out here with families and people having fun and enjoying themselves."

Lacapra said that parks are also a good place to meet people because of the relaxed atmosphere.

Staying relaxed is why the two MPs play their basketball on the western court at Desert Breeze instead of the eastern court, where more talented players test their skills.

"That court over there is the NBA," Lacapra said of the eastern court. "Over here where we play is the CBA. They do a lot more arguing over on the NBA court, so I guess it's a lot like real life."

William Charles, a businessman who moved to Las Vegas from Los Angeles seven months ago, said he enjoys coming to the park at night to watch the basketball.

"In a lot of cities you don't want to be seen too much after dark, but Las Vegas' parks are really nice," Charles said. "In L.A. you can forget about playing basketball at night in a park, and it's getting worse there."

archive