Framed Fabric Structure Manufacturer Welcomes New Stadium, New Team, New Name and New Era for Las Vegas Baseball
Allsite Structure Rental’s home is Las Vegas and our business is providing tensioned framed fabric structures for big projects and big events. This mission includes installing a wide range of sports structures that provide indoor sports facilities for professional sports organizations, universities and other groups who need large indoor space for practice and play. So, when a new sports structure goes up in Vegas, we take notice. Like other Las Vegas residents, we are pleased to see the Las Vegas sports scene growing and thriving, with a number of new professional teams taking up residence recently. As 2019 spring training gets closer, let’s take a look at what’s happening in baseball in Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas 51’s minor league baseball team that has entertained us for years is no more, but most fans are thrilled that they now have the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics to cheer. Relocated from far away Tennessee, the team has been re-christened the Las Vegas Aviators, in honor of Las Vegas real estate developer and aviator, Howard Hughes. Professional baseball in Las Vegas has been given a new start, with a cutting-edge new stadium in the scenic foothills of Las Vegas. What better way for Las Vegas to continue its recent professional sports expansion tear?
A Short History of Professional Baseball in Las Vegas
Baseball in Vegas? Like every town, Las Vegans has always had sports fans. While major league sports were frowned on for a long time because of the temptations related to gambling and the potential for game-fixing, professional baseball has been in Las Vegas for a long time. Starting back in 1947, the Las Vegas Wranglers played in the Sunset league, taking on teams from Reno and Southern California. The opening game was played on April 25, 1947 with players battling windy, dusty conditions, true to Las Vegas’ sometimes challenging desert climate. Typical attendance was about 600 people, but it spiked in 1949 to over a thousand attendees when the Wranglers won the pennant. Sadly, due to budget cuts, there were no playoffs that year.
“Old” Cashman Field (a field previously used for football and rodeos) was home to the Wranglers from 1948 until the Sunset League folded in 1952. A newly formed Wrangler team played in the Arizona-Mexico League and later the San Jose Pirates filled the baseball gap until 1958. For a long stretch, from 1959-1982, there was no professional baseball in Las Vegas.
The Pacific Coast League finally brought the sport back to the local fans in 1983 with the arrival of their Spokane, Wa. minor league team. New Cashman Field, adjacent to the old playing field, opened in 1983 when the Las Vegas Stars joined the Pacific Coast League. The Stars switched affiliation from the San Diego Padres to the LA Dodgers in 2001, changing their name to the 51’s (after the nearby, infamous Area 51, complete with an unlikely alien as mascot). In 2008, affiliation again switched, this time to the Toronto Blue Jays. This long stretch of minor league baseball in Las Vegas has satisfied the appetites of local baseball fans and helped major league owners gain an appreciation for what Las Vegas’ great location and vibrant metropolitan culture can offer teams and players. Now that the area is home to nearly 2 million people, it was high time to up the game and build a new home for Las Vegas baseball.
The Las Vegas Aviators Land in Summerlin with Style
The new Las Vegas Ballpark, still under construction this winter, is located far across town from Cashman Field, reflecting how much Las Vegas has grown since the days the Las Vegas Wranglers played before a few hundred people. Its chosen location is the Howard Hughes Corporation developed Summerlin community, a sprawling, upscale residential area in the foothills of the Las Vegas Valley. Summerlin has plenty of urban amenities and businesses to fill the suites and meeting rooms at the new ballpark. It has a ready population of residents who, owners hope, will stop by after work or school for some evening baseball. And, Summerlin enjoys a slightly cooler climate than the old location at Cashman Field on the valley floor, making the summer evening games more pleasant for fans in attendance. The A’s and the developers expect the comfortable stadium, climate controlled suites, private club areas and other amenities will fill seats night after night. Even the outdoor seating will accommodate hot Las Vegas nights, with all mesh seats and a pool to keep spectators cool.
As it did for its successful NHL expansion franchise, the Vegas Golden Knights, and will do for the imminent arrival of the Oakland Raiders NFL team, Las Vegas is ready to embrace its latest new professional sports team and make it their own. We’ll soon find out, as the Las Vegas Aviators open their first game at home on April 9, 2019.
Framed Fabric Structures for Indoor Sports Training and Play
At Allsite we’re not just sports fans. We also work with sports teams and clubs in a variety of sports all across the country and the continent, providing temporary and permanent framed fabric structure solutions for a range of sports-related space needs. These groups face different challenges, such as a lack of available traditional buildings in the area, climates that are too hot or too cold, or ones where snow curtails outdoor practice for a good part of the year. Many organizations are dealing with time limits to get a facility up and running in time for the next season or school year and need a fast solution. Most also deal with limited budgets for new facilities and capital building projects, making prefabricated, modular framed fabric structures a fast and affordable solution.
Our versatile, modular and customizable tension fabric sports structures provide our clients with a quality alternative to new building or stadium construction. Allsite’s spacious, reinforced, high-strength aluminum alloy framed structures can be installed quickly on virtually any surface for immediate use. They provide an open, clear span interior, without posts or pillars, for unimpeded play space. They feature high ceilings and plenty of natural light. If, like the Las Vegas Wranglers, your location experiences extreme weather like heat, dust, wind, snow or rain, the wind and weather-resistant Allsite tension fabric structure provides a reliable, year-round sheltered space so your sports training and play can go on as scheduled. The heavy duty PVC fabric cover is UV resistant and the surface readily sheds snow and rain to keep the interior dry and comfortable, ready for play.
Allsite framed fabric structures are popular facilities for team practice and training, whatever the sport. They can be used for any and all kinds of sports and recreational uses. Adaptable and easy to modify with the addition of modular panels if more or less room is needed, they make great multi-use facilities, or they can be fully dedicated to a single sport. Use our building for baseball batting practices or little league games, for basketball courts or fill it with gym equipment for a variety of workouts, from bicycling and running to weight training. These buildings can be used for individual and team play with room for multiple tennis, pickeball or badminton courts, or for indoor football, soccer or field hockey games, even ice hockey rinks and Olympic-size swimming pools.
Great for professional league training and practice facilities, Allsite’s fabric sports structures are also perfect for use by high school and university athletics departments, or by private sports or country clubs. These durable, highly engineered buildings provide reliable, climatized and comfortable indoor space for whatever activities you have in mind. They make a great place to hold games, matches and exhibitions, as these buildings can also be outfitted with sound systems, screens and billboards for tournament play and public events.
At Allsite, we’re excited about Las Vegas’ growing sports scene, and look forward to a winning first season for the Las Vegas Aviators. If we can help your organization fulfill its goal to build a winning season, please contact our office today.
