Monday was the last day for families to play in much of Lorenzi park. The 60 acre park is about to get an 11-million dollar face-lift from the city of Las Vegas.

About half of the park will have to be shut down for at least a year… But as Jonathan Humbert tells us… While decay has taken over what's often called a “jewel” in the heart of the city… The new version should be impressive:

If you are a long time observer of Lorenzi park, it seems wherever you look, what's old can be new again. The fences are going up and the new look Lorenzi is about to get underway — a chance to talk about old memories for Michael O'Neal and his wife Allison.

“Every weekend, we brought our flashlights and we stayed over until Sunday morning,” said Michael.

Those school-age adventures have given way to today's decay. Problems popping up out of the ground.

“Driving by the streets and I see the tennis courts. They look pretty rundown,” said Michael.

It's the park's broken promise according to councilman Ricki Barlow. “It really gets under my skin. We as a community must do better and teach our kids.”

Now in place of those problems, Barlow and the city are spending $11 million on upgrades to the fields and tennis courts, severing the old ties that bind. Yet there is a cost.

“It's just a little sad that it's going to be closed,” said Grandpa Roy Johnson. He and granddaughters Angelica and Breann are happy the park is boosting its image. “It's been going down.”

Now they are bothered they will have to go elsewhere for a full year until the new park is complete. “The kids still like to come, and hopefully they'll come back,” said Johnson.

For the winged watchers and their young ones, though – a temporary annoyance.

The city is using $11.4 million in funds from land it sold to the Bureau of Land Management. The park's new additions are expected to be finished in a little more than a year — only the east side will be closed. The pond, museum, amphitheater and senior center will not be affected.

Email your comments to Legislative Reporter Jonathan Humbert.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 21st, 2008 at 11:00 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.