3925 Neil Rd, Reno, NV 89502

Miguel Ribera Park

Park Description:

Miguel Ribera Park is a 19-acre Reno park without restrooms. The park is home to the Neil Road Recreation Center.

Park Amenities:

Playground, skate park, soccer fields, basketball courts, horseshoe area, volleyball, rentable shelters, picnic shelters, barbecue area, pathways, and tables/benches.

Park Contact Information:

City of Reno - Parks & Facilities (775) 334-2417

Park Highlights

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Park History

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Washoe County Fish Rearing Station

The land upon which the park and community center are located was a fish rearing station from 1925 until 1990, when it was converted into a park. Prior to 1925, the area had been a drain and ditch site surrounded by farm land.

Fishing in Reno’s rivers and streams was a popular sport by early residents. But in the 1920’s, most of the major rivers, streams, and lakes in Nevada stopped producing enough fish to satisfy fishermen, so the Nevada Department of Wildlife and the US Fish and Wildlife Service established fish hatcheries and rearing stations to supply the waterways. The Washoe County Rearing Station was developed to raise rainbow, brook, and brown trout for this purpose.

One of the many success stories of the Washoe Fish Rearing Station was its success in saving the rare and endangered cui-ui fish, found only in Pyramid. The fish typically spawn in the Truckee River and are important to the Pyramid Lake Paiute Indian Tribe. The fish have been recovering thanks to efforts by biologists at the rearing station.

Miguel Ribera

The City of Reno swapped land with Washoe County to obtain the 18-acre parcel, and broke ground for the park on October 14, 1992. After adequate funding was obtained, the community center opened in 1999.

The park’s name was chosen in the fall of 1996 by a unanimous vote of the Reno Council to Miguel Ribera Park at Neil Road. The city leaders wanted to honor Mr. Ribera who had been a generous community leader and entrepreneur for many years. Ribera had pushed for the development of a park in that area, and the largely Hispanic community which surrounds the park voiced their support for having it named after a Hispanic community leader.

Miguel Ribera was born in 1916 in New Mexico. He joined the Army in 1938 and the Navy in 1942, where he learned to cook while serving on PT boats. He opened Reno’s first Mexican Restaurant in 1959 with only $130 ($100 for rent and $30 for food). Famous people often visited his restaurant, including Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, and Sarah Vaugh, who wrote on her photograph for him something to the effect that his restaurant was “the only good thing about Reno.”