Grand opening at Red Rock visitors center set for today

When visitors go to Red Rock Canyon today, they'll get more than a breath of fresh air and a sweeping view of the park's signature sandstone cliffs.

For the first time since construction began more than a year ago, the visitors' experience will include outdoor exhibits that bring sturdy replicas of some of the park's most fragile features to the foreground: things such as American Indian rock art panels, desert tortoises in their natural habitat, and a life-size cougar that lurks atop one of the shade walls.

It's all designed so people can touch, feel, see and understand the national conservation area from the perspective of earth, water, fire and air.

"You know the kids are going to just love this," said park spokeswoman Hillerie Patton, who strolled through the colorful, concrete walkways Friday and tested some of the hands-on displays.

One of the walks leads to an observation deck where visitors can study a giant map of the parks trails etched into the floor with photo panels on a railing of what they'll see on the trails and beyond the panoramic view.

"People can learn about this to understand how important it is to conserve it," she said.

For example, did you know that tadpole shrimp thrive in the rock features known as "tinajas" that capture rainwater?

The tiny creatures "lay their eggs in the mud at the bottom of the tinajas. But the eggs cannot hatch until they have completely dried out and the tinaja fills with water again," one display reads.

A contingent of park volunteers, Bureau of Land Management personnel and elected officials will hold a grand opening for the new visitors center and exhibit area at 11 a.m. before public access to the displays begins at 2 p.m. Among the attendees will be Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who championed the effort behind the $23 million visitors center expansion project and the bill that paid for it through the sale of public lands in Southern Nevada.

In a nutshell, "Earth, Water, Fire and Air" brings the park's features to the feet of those who visit the center and later want to explore areas where they exist in nature.

The exhibits offer a glimpse of geology from the death of the supercontinent 250 million to 160 million years ago and of human history going back 10,000 years, including the Old Spanish Trail of the 1800s and Las Vegas today.

An amphitheater with seating for 290 gives lecturers a place to talk, actors a stage to perform and provides a place outside to hold weddings.

Look-alike Teddy Roosevelt actor Joe Wiegand will be at the grand opening today and again Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The admission fee to the park includes access to the visitors center and its outdoor exhibit area.

Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.