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.”

Building of the Park

The surrounding neighborhood also pushed to have a community center at the park. The total cost of the project was $3,065,000 with the city providing $2 million by issuing bonds using the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds as a guarantee of payment and an additional $295,000 of CDBG funds to go directly to the project. The rest of the $560,000 was provided by private donors.

The architectural plans for the community center were designed by Robert Salas and approved in 1992. The first phase broke ground on April 9, 1998 and included a parking lot, infrastructure work, and a 8,600-square foot building. Future improvements included the addition of soccer fields, a child care center, Head Start, St. Mary’s Health Center, and a gymnasium. The facility officially opened in February 1999 with a special event a month later that included a basketball game pitting the Reno mayor and City Council against members of the neighborhood Neil Road Family Services Consortium.

Image:
Smithridge Park advertisement. Source: Reno Gazette-Journal.

Neil Road Recreation Center

By 1996, more improvements were added to the park at a cost of $485,000—a new picnic pavilion, soccer field, and more. Today the Neil Road Recreation Center (NRRC) is three separate buildings with more than 37,000 square feet of space. It was recently expanded to include the city’s first senior center and features public-use computers, a full-size gymnasium, a multi-purpose room and a fitness center that caters especially to the needs of senior citizens including game groups, fitness classes, dance clubs and some social services.

Neil Road is named after Neil Brooks, a dairyman from Model Dairy which was located close to where the park now resides. Brooks was the great grandson of George E. Peckham (a Reno pioneer) and is buried at Hillside Cemetery along with many of the city’s founders.

Image:
Neil Brooks. Source: Historic Reno Preservation Society website, http://www.historicreno.org.

Finn Ranch, Model Dairy, and Rewana Distributors

The neighborhood area around where the park and community center reside was known as Finn Ranch in the early 1900s. It then became part of a 300-acre dairy farm owned by Charles W. Brooks and Alfred Peckham, called Model Dairy Ranch and their home delivery distributor, Rewana. It was located between Peckham Lane and Gentry Way.

Now over 100 years old, Model Dairy was for many years the largest and most modern milk distribution business in the state. Charles W. Brooks started the dairy in 1906 as a neighborhood business in Reno using a horse and buggy to deliver milk. Brooks also owned Rewana Farm in southeast Reno with a large herd of dairy stock, along with the equipment to process and bottle the milk.

Today Model Dairy is part of Dean Foods, but still offers home delivery of dairy products. Its milk is made from 15 independent dairies from farms in Fallon and Yerington, and processed at Model’s plant in Reno.

Image:
Model Dairy logo. Source: Model Dairy website.

Miguel Ribera Park Through the Years

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iNaturalist:

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Curious what's been seen in this park? Click the link below to see what species other have spotted!

Miguel Ribera Park on iNaturalist

Contact:

Have a question about our parks or the Parks Project? Email us at parksproject@tmparksfoundation.org!

Want To Learn More?

References & Further Info:

City of Reno Parks & Facilities Directory - Miguel Ribera Park
Here is a link for rental information for Miguel Ribera Park on the City of Reno’s website.
City of Reno: Miguel Ribera Park
City of Reno: Neil Road Recreation Center
Skate park design: Miguel Ribera Skatepark Design

Contributor(s):

Jill Richardson (history)

Haley McGuire

Alex Shahbazi

Last Updated:

August 26, 2022 at 6:33:43 PM

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