LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Behind a locked gate in the Maryland Parkway Corridor sits the closed Huntridge Circle Park, but the community-driven organization, Friends of Huntridge Park, is hoping to change that.
Justin Hinton spoke with one Las Vegas resident hoping to give the park a brand new future:
“It's gone through a lot of change. It's gone through a lot of issues with safety from the Maryland Parkway Corridor, issues with the unhoused community, and it's time for the community to take the park back,” said Freddy Godinez.
He’s in the process of building partnerships, including a public-private one with the city of Las Vegas, to make it happen.
The goal is to get people on board to see the potential benefits for the downtown Las Vegas community.
Godinez, a graduate of UNLV, turned to his alma mater.
“Right now, we've leveraged UNLV’s landscape architecture program to really inspire the community on what the park can be,” he said.
That includes hosting a series of student showcase events where they present their ideas on potential designs and uses of the park, giving the students real-world experience in a field they hope to tackle.
The second round of the UNLV student showcase is Dec. 8 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. inside the Now Café on the second floor of City Hall.
“The designs are incredible, and I think they're a great glimpse of what the park can be, but there's also other feasibility issues that we have to take into consideration,” Godinez said.
He says that means exploring a number of avenues, from working with a professional firm to hosting design competitions, whatever it takes to bring new life back to the park, which he says is still years away.
