Tag: reno

A new user on YouTube, renoclips, uploaded a bunch of old commercials and station IDs from Reno TV in the 1980s. There are also a couple of longer videos, like a look at Reno being the Divorce Capitol of the US in the 1940s. Here are a few of the videos, but you definitely need to go to their channel and check them all out.

Let's hope they keep adding more!

I was in Reno yesterday, so I detoured a little bit to see if I could find the Galena Forest Bridge, the bridge along I-580 that has been accused of having shoddy materials used in its construction. This bridge is set a little ways in the backcountry, where there are currently no roads. It's close to Hwy 431, though, and it is visible from populated areas, although it's hard to get close enough to take good pictures of it. Here are the best I could get, although probably if you got out of the car and hiked for a bit you could see it better.

This is the second-longest bridge on the I-580 project, but not nearly as impressive as the Galena Creek Bridge a few miles south. It looks like it's quite steep too, as the freeway climbs up to get to the elevation needed to get over the hills.

Downtown Makeover has a photo gallery from the Reno River Festival. Looks like things are really hopping down there by the river.

Photo by Flickr user RenoTahoe

The Reno River Festival is back on this weekend, and the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority brings us a photo gallery on Flickr showing all the excitement.

95 seconds of hijinx from the ball game.

The paint is hardly dry on the new Reno Aces baseball stadium, but the season has started and games are being held there regularly. Sunday was Little League Day, so Sam and his T-Ball team got to march around the field in a big parade before the first pitch was thrown. Then we sat down and watched the Aces try to keep their three-game winning streak alive with a fourth win over the Portland Beavers. They couldn't pull it off, losing 6-7. And then because the kids were restless and wouldn't keep their seats, we got to explore every inch of the new stadium.

Little League players clustered around the side entrance, waiting to enter the park and join the parade.

Jack didn't appreciate the locked gates.

The ballpark has a nice look; these neon signs are modern but they recall the ballparks of old.

Red and green are the dominant colors of the stadium building, with blue for all the seats.

Sam's Little League team, the Timber Rattlers, on the field.

The parade wrapped around the whole stadium, with teams from all over northern Nevada.

"Louie" and "Slugger" entertained between innings.

Jack watches the field intently.

The ballpark is built immediately adjacent to the Reno train trench, so several times during the game you'd hear the rumbling of a freight train as it passes by.

For kids who are bored of the game, there is a playground in the back.

The view from the grass, the cheap seats in the outfield.

A full house this Sunday afternoon.

At the 7th inning stretch this StayPuftian ghoul mounts the outfield fence for a rousing chorus of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".

Final score, 6-7. A far cry from the 16-5 flogging Reno handed out the day before.

Although the cost of building this stadium, not to mention the prices of tickets and refreshments, seem like an unnecessary extravagance these days, I think it's still a positive addition to downtown Reno. Phase 2 of the development, which is still in the planning stages, will see a few restaurants and stores built on the front lawn of the ballpark, creating a "Freight House District", named for the historic warehouse next door. If this is all successful it could create another destination spot for Reno, something to do downtown besides the casinos and the river, downtown's only two big draws right now. As it was, after the game was over probably 80% of the crowd streamed over to the parking garage across the street and went home or went somewhere else for dinner. Having more to do right next to the ballpark would encourage people to stay a while; hopefully the plans can come together and the Freight House District will develop into a place people want to come to even when the baseball season is over.

More pictures from the day are on Flickr.

Downtown Makeover has found a set of plans for the new shopping center that is slated to be built on the Park Lane Mall land in Reno. His site doesn't have any permalinks, so there's no way to link directly to the post where he talks about the plans. Go to www.downtownmakeover.com and look for a post from today, 3/21/09 - NEW PARK LANE PROMENADE PLANS. I've made a copy of the plans themselves here so you can see them.

There's nothing hugely exciting about these plans. Just an ordinary outdoor mall, with a parking lot in the center and stores ringed around the outside edge. Very similar to the Sierra Summit, as a commenter pointed out. The only signature feature is the namesake "promenade" between Virginia Street and the Century movie theater, but even that is designed for cars and parking, not for people to get out and stroll on foot.

Indoor malls make so much sense here in Northern Nevada, where 10 months out of the year it's either too hot or too cold to be outside. So I don't know why the indoor malls are going away and outdoor malls are taking over.

Downtown Makeover has another photowalk around downtown Reno, with a look at construction on the new baseball stadium and a few other projects around town.

Downtown Makeover has another photowalk around downtown Reno, looking at the ballpark and other construction.

Just to prove that they'll hold a ceremony for anything, here's the ceremony for the official first-butt-in-a-seat at the new Reno ballpark.