Henderson honored for spaces to play

By DAN EVERSON

Las Vegas is known as a great place to play, if you're over 21.

But for the second year in a row, a community just to the southeast has been recognized as a great place to play for kids.

The Washington-based KaBOOM! organization, whose mission is to build play spaces through community involvement, has named Henderson a Playful City USA for 2009.

"It's an honor for us," said Kim Becker, a spokeswoman for the Henderson Parks and Recreation Department. "It shows us we're going in the right direction with everything we've been doing."

KaBOOM! is a national nonprofit that aims to have a play space within walking distance of every child in the United States.

Henderson is one of 93 Playful Cities recognized this year, the third year in Playful City history. The city is one of 32 communities recognized for the second consecutive year. Henderson is the only community in Nevada to receive the distinction.

As a Playful City, Henderson will be included in national promotions by KaBOOM! The city will receive highway signs that declare Henderson a Playful City, but Becker said the location of the signs has yet to be determined.

Henderson has qualified and applied for special playground equipment that will be awarded to five of the 2009 Playful Cities. Playgrounds would feature loose equipment that children could move and rearrange as they please.

Henderson kept its Playful City title, Becker said, because the city has continued to meet the criteria, including a commitment to play in the areas of quantity, quality and access.

Becker said Henderson is able to promote play, despite the bad economy, because it receives special funding for parks and trails from the federal Bureau of Land Management. She said Henderson has received $235 million from the bureau over the past several years.

The money has helped Henderson improve older parks and build new ones, such as Madeira Canyon Park, which opened May 16.

Becker said 42 more park and trail projects are in the works.

To improve old parks, the department has been working to add 67 shade shelters at parks around the city, particularly at playgrounds, she said. The shelters can cool down playground equipment that can get hot enough to give a child a second-degree burn.

Henderson resident Ana Dion, 39, said the shade shelters at Madeira Canyon are extremely helpful for her children.

"You can come out now and go and play," Dion said Saturday morning. "If we go to a park that's not shaded, they can't even touch the equipment."

Also crucial in the heat are the splash pads found at seven of Henderson's 46 parks. Brianna Hemberger, 9, of Gilbert, Ariz., played at the Madeira Canyon splash pad on Saturday. It was her fifth trip to the park of her weeklong stay in Henderson.

"It's so wet and fun," Hemberger said. "And it's summertime, so I want to get wet."

Hemberger was visiting her grandmother, Kathryn Gilbert, 64, who said she enjoys the parks and splash pads even at her age.

"It makes it a much nicer place to live," Gilbert said. "Las Vegas has such a reputation for being something other than a family-oriented community."

Dion's friend Kelly Lawson, 34, also spoke of a sense of relief at Madeira Canyon.

"You really don't feel like you're in Las Vegas. You really feel like you're in a whole different community in a whole different town," Lawson said. "It's nice."

Henderson will celebrate its play spaces on its official Come Out and Play Day on Sept. 24.

Contact reporter Dan Everson at 702-383-0245.