A pavilion begins to take shape behind the LDS chapel on Hinckley Ave. in Logandale. The structure will be the focal point of a new Heritage Park at the location.

By Vernon Robison

Moapa Valley Progress

A park which is planned to celebrate the pioneer history of the Moapa Valley has begun construction on a 1.6 acre lot just west of the LDS Chapel at the intersection of Hinckley Ave and Moapa Valley Blvd in Logandale. Over the past several weeks, construction crews have been at work on a covered pavilion which will be the focal point of the new park.

The project had its beginning five years ago when LDS Logandale Stake leaders proposed the idea for a Heritage Park on this small parcel of property which had remained vacant after the construction of the Hinckley Chapel. The idea was to build a central pavilion surrounded by a landscaped grassy area to accomodate for group activities at the park. In other areas of the parcel surrounding the pavilion, local families or groups with pioneer roots in the community could sponsor the construction of a network of monuments honoring their pioneer heritage in the community.

Since the monuments are proposed to be independently constructed by the efforts of individual families or groups using volunteer labor, the work on the Heritage Park is expected to be an ongoing effort for some time to come, said LDS Logandale Stake President Matt Messer.

“We are not in any real hurry to fully complete the park all at once,” Messer said. “It will be an ongoing project-by-project effort. We wanted to get the pavilion completed so that it could start being used for various group activities. Then the next step will be adding the landscaping which can be done little by little with volunteers or Eagle Scout projects. When it is all completed I think that it will be a beautiful addition to the community.”

The pavilion is being built by local contractor Brimont Construction. Over the past few weeks, the company has poured cement and set the support beams for the structure. But as they prepared to construct the pavilion’s covering they ran into a delay, according to Brimont owner Brian Seely.

Seely explained that the 30’ x 60’ foot open pavilion is the only structure proposed for the park which required a building permit. When the Church applied to Clark County five years ago for the proper permits the church ordered materials for the pavilion at the same time with the expectation that the permits were forthcoming, Seely said. But the permits got snagged at the County causing delays to the project.

The building materials had to be put into storage and have been exposed to the elements for five years awaiting the County building permits to be issued. When it came time to start construction, Seely said that his crews went to retrieve the materials from storage and found that they had been severely weathered and were no longer useable for the project. The materials had to be re-ordered.

Seely is currently awaiting the delivery of the new building materials to continue construction on the pavilion. The project should be completed within the next 6-8 weeks, Seely said.