Swimming, tennis and trails: Las Vegas working on more recreation choices
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Swimming, tennis and cycling are getting some love from the City of Las Vegas in 2024 as projects get underway.
Ward 2, which contains a big section of Summerlin in the west valley, has three projects that will benefit the entire Las Vegas valley. 8 News Now is bringing you a look at some of the projects you’ll see under construction in the coming months. We’re going through each ward in the city and highlighting projects that the Public Works Department has on their schedule.
Pavilion Center
Construction is expected to start in June on a regional outdoor Olympic-size swimming pool just north of the Pavilion Center Pool — already a very popular spot. “This is really going to allow us to offer all the way up to international swim meets and other aquatic programming to serve the growing number of competitive and recreational swimmers that we have in the valley,” according to Las Vegas Public Works Director Joey Paskey. The cost of design and construction on the new pool is $13.3 million, and $8.8 million of that funding is coming through the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act (SNPLMA). That program allows the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to sell public lands and turn over 85% of the proceeds to be used for parks, trails and natural areas.
Darling Tennis Center
Pickleball might be the rage, but tennis players will get up to 14 new courts as the Darling Tennis Center expands. The project includes new lighting and an additional restroom. The park is on the west end of Kellog-Zaher Sports Complex, which runs along Washington Avenue from Buffalo Drive to Durango Road. Completed in 2005, it’s already the largest tennis facility in the state with 23 lighted courts — all for tennis. No pickleball, but officials say that’s available at plenty of parks in Las Vegas. The city has requested $9.6 million in SNPLMA funds for the project. The expansion will allow more tennis leagues, open play and national tournaments.
Pedestrian bridges
Cyclists and pedestrians will get a break when Las Vegas completes two new pedestrian bridges across Summerlin Parkway in the coming years. The $8.7 million project — $1.3 million for design and $7.4 million for construction — is being coordinated with the Howard Hughes Corp., and has qualified for federal funds. The precise location of the bridges was not disclosed, but the city describes them as “CC-2115 pedestrian bridges at Summerlin Parkway.” Renderings above show designs for the bridges.
Summerlin streetlights
A phase of the overall citywide program, some streets in Summerlin will be getting new streetlights this year. Streetlight conversions to LED lights are planned on Lake Mead Boulevard west of Buffalo Drive, Rampart Boulevard from Cheyenne Avenue to Summerlin Parkway, Vegas Drive from Buffalo to Rampart and Cielo Vista Avenue. The project will also convert streetlights on these streets: Hillpointe Road, Hills Center Drive, Crestdale Lane, Snow Trail, Anasazi Drive, Village Center Circle and a short segment of Town Center Drive leaving from that circle to Summerlin Parkway. The new fixtures will have smart streetlight censors, and the city will be able to tell whether they’re on or not through remote monitoring. The project will install 1,000 LED fixtures at a cost of $1.5 million. Work will begin in April and last through the end of the year.
The map above will be updated to show the locations of projects from this series, which began Monday and will go through Saturday. Ward 2 is shown below shaded in orange:
MONDAY: Ward 1 projects at Cragin-Hinson Park, a new dog park at Rancho and Oakey, the Charleston Heights Arts Center and Fire Station 103.
Coming Wednesday: Ward 3 projects
Coming Thursday: Ward 4 projects
Coming Friday: Ward 5 projects
Coming Saturday: Ward 6 projects
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