Community celebrates 20-acre expansion of Lone Mountain Park

Just minutes after Clark County officials dedicated the new expansion of Lone Mountain Park Oct. 20, more than 20 children climbed behind the podium on the new play area, featuring a rocks-and-ropes course.

The 20-acre expansion at 9825 W. Lone Mountain Road doubled the acreage of the original park , which includes climbing and amenities for tennis, bocce ball and basketball.

New amenities at the park include four basketball courts, six tennis courts, seven horseshoe pits, seven bocce ball courts and 11 additional picnic pavilions.

The county also developed two new restroom facilities, a new plaza with barbecue grills and drinking fountains and a walking trail with mature landscaping.

The tennis courts, said to be U.S. Open-quality, brought Nevada Tennis Association executive director Ryan Wolfington to the park to celebrate. He said he's "extremely happy" about the addition and believes the courts will be popular with the community because tennis can be played by children and adults.

Larry Brown, Clark County commissioner of District C, said surrounding community members were involved in the process, and the county tried to address most of their concerns but could not meet them all.

He said park developers added a fence on the south side of the park to address residents' concerns of people parking or crossing through their neighborhood to access the park.

He said some residents worried that the park might attract unwanted people , but Brown assured them that the Metropolitan Police Department would patrol the area. Police officers attended the park opening.

Park neighbor Camille Spenner said she'll enjoy the park now that it's built, but she wasn't always supportive of the project. Some neighbors had concerns about the elevation of the park and what it would mean for their privacy, as the tennis courts look over into their backyards.

Spenner said she would have rather seen the land left in its natural state but will use it in the future with her family and expects her teenage nephews will enjoy the basketball, tennis and horseshoe courts.

"If we couldn't eliminate it, then we might as well enjoy it," Spenner said. "I look at the positive; it will be enjoyed by many."

Still, she said she's concerned about people using the park at night when it is closed and said that leading up to its opening , the tennis court lights were on throughout the night. She said she wishes the lights would shut down at 10 p.m. so she can see the mountain view again.

The second phase took 16 months to complete, said Jay Keating, project superintendent with Gothic Landscape Inc.

Construction had a four-month delay caused by the incline adjustments necessary to make the park handicap accessible .

The playground padding was leveled to provide easy access for children in wheelchairs . The park also has the second handicap slide in the Southern Nevada region, Keating said. Plus, Keating and his team added enough padding to break a child's fall from any height of the equipment.

Nestor Adame, a project coordinator, said he lives only two miles away with his 8-year-old daughter Natalie and plans to use the facilities often. But more than that, he's excited that there's open space for his daughter to play on.

"There's a huge area where the kids can play," Adame said, pointing to the sod-covered area behind the playground. "Most parks don't have an area like this for kids to play."

While waiting to get her face painted with a Hello Kitty design, his daughter said she was excited to show her friends the new park.

The open space was also one of Brown's favorite features of the park.

"If there's one thing that I have enjoyed over my service at the northwest, it's our ability - both the city and now at the county - to add public space," Brown said.

"This place belongs to the people; it's theirs. It's our commitment as a local government to their quality of life. And it's a generational project."

Contact Centennial and North Las Vegas View reporter Laura Phelps at lphelps@viewnews.com or 702-477-3839.