On April 9, the Las Vegas Ballpark, home to the Las Vegas Aviators Triple-A baseball team, opened in Downtown Summerlin, Nev. The club and ballpark are wholly owned by Howard Hughes Corporation, which claims this is the first minor-league ballpark in the U.S. to be built within a master-planned community.
Summerlin, on the western rim of Las Vegas, has ranked among the country’s top-10 best-selling communities for two decades. Developed by Howard Hughes Corporation, it encompasses 22,500 acres where 100,000 residents live within 250 neighborhoods. There are 6,000 acres still available for growth. Downtown Summerlin is the city’s walkable urban center with has over 125 stores. Its newer buildings include the practice facility for the Las Vegas Golden Knights pro hockey franchise.
Summerlin drew more than 18 million visitors last year, and the new $150 million ballpark, with 8,200 fixed seats and a total capacity of 10,000, is expected to be another major attraction. The Aviators, which recently changed its name from the Las Vegas 51s, plays in the Pacific Coast League and is part of the Oakland Athletics system. Prior to opening its 37th season at Las Vegas Ballpark this spring, the team had been drawing at least 300,000 fans annually at its old home, Cashman Field.
“Tonight marks a dynamic new chapter for the community of Summerlin and its thriving downtown, which continues to grow as a vibrant destination for visitors throughout Nevada, and beyond,” said David Weinreb, CEO of Howard Hughes Corporation, during opening-day ceremonies that included Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak.
The $150 million ballpark is expected to attract even more people to Summerlin, which drew 18 million visitors last year. Image: Howard Hughes Corporation
Las Vegas Ballpark, which sits on 7.65 acres, was designed by HOK and built by a joint venture of AECOM Hunt and Penta Building Group. From groundbreaking, the stadium took about 13 months to complete. It includes 22 suites, 400 club-level seats and 350 party-deck seats. Howard Hughes Corporation claims that the Aviators are the first team in any sport with a home field that features 4Topps Premium Seating’s breathable AirFlow Mesh seats.
The ballpark also has the largest LED video screen in Minor League Baseball. The screen, designed by South Dakota-based Daktronics, is 31-ft high by 126-ft wide, with a 13-HD pixel layout. Two ribbon displays measure 3.5-ft high by 90-ft wide and feature a 15-HD pixel layout.
Related Stories
| Mar 11, 2011
Community sports center in Nashville features NCAA-grade training facility
A multisport community facility in Nashville featuring a training facility that will meet NCAA Division I standards is being constructed by St. Louis-based Clayco and Chicago-based Pinnacle.
| Mar 11, 2011
Slam dunk for the University of Nebraska’s basketball arena
The University of Nebraska men’s and women’s basketball programs will have a new home beginning in 2013. Designed by the DLR Group, the $344 million West Haymarket Civic Arena in Lincoln, Neb., will have 16,000 seats, suites, club amenities, loge, dedicated locker rooms, training rooms, and support space for game operations.
| Feb 23, 2011
London 2012: What Olympic Park looks like today
London 2012 released a series of aerial images that show progress at Olympic Park, including a completed roof on the stadium (where seats are already installed), tile work at the aquatic centre, and structural work complete on more than a quarter of residential projects at Olympic Village.
| Jan 21, 2011
Sustainable history center exhibits Fort Ticonderoga’s storied past
Fort Ticonderoga, in Ticonderoga, N.Y., along Lake Champlain, dates to 1755 and was the site of battles in the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. The new $20.8 million, 15,000-sf Deborah Clarke Mars Education Center pays homage to the French magasin du Roi (the King’s warehouse) at the fort.
| Jan 20, 2011
Houston Dynamo soccer team plans new venue
Construction is scheduled to begin this month on a new 22,000-seat Major League Soccer stadium for the Houston Dynamo. The $60 million project is expected to be ready for the 2012 MLS season.
| Jan 20, 2011
Construction begins on second St. Louis community center
O’Fallon Park Recreation Complex in St. Louis, designed by local architecture/engineering firm KAI Design & Build, will feature an indoor aquatic park with interactive water play features, a lazy river, water slides, laps lanes, and an outdoor spray and multiuse pool.
| Nov 16, 2010
Brazil Olympics spurring green construction
Brazil's green building industry will expand in the coming years, spurred by construction of low-impact venues being built for the 2016 Olympics. The International Olympic Committee requires arenas built for the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro meet international standards for low-carbon emissions and energy efficiency. This has boosted local interest in developing real estate with lower environmental impact than existing buildings. The timing couldn’t be better: the Brazilian government is just beginning its long-term infrastructure expansion program.
| Nov 3, 2010
Park’s green education center a lesson in sustainability
The new Cantigny Outdoor Education Center, located within the 500-acre Cantigny Park in Wheaton, Ill., earned LEED Silver. Designed by DLA Architects, the 3,100-sf multipurpose center will serve patrons of the park’s golf courses, museums, and display garden, one of the largest such gardens in the Midwest.
