Home run barrier, swimming pool give Las Vegas ballpark character

If the mark of a good ballpark is a distinguishing feature, Las Vegas Ballpark will have two that stand out in the manner of ivy-covered outfield walls and monuments in a distant center field.

One was born out of necessity, the second out of whimsy.

The proximity of the Aviators’ new Downtown Summerlin home to City National Arena required a barrier to be erected to keep home run balls from bouncing off the back of the Golden Knights’ practice rink.

A 60-foot steel shield went up just beyond the left-field fence, and what might have been an eyesore became a transformative feature — Las Vegas Ballpark’s answer to Fenway Park’s Green Monster.

“We call it Devin’s Wall. One of the (HOK) lead architects, Devin Norton, came up with that,” Aviators president Don Logan said. “We were trying to protect City National Arena, and putting a big ol’ net like at a driving range doesn’t fit up here.

“Again, that’s where you’ve got to give Hughes (Corporation) credit, because it wasn’t cheap.”

The home run barrier financed by the team and ballpark owners serves as a backdrop for a scoreboard that stands 31 feet high and 126 feet wide. It has ample space for advertising and is topped by immense block letters that spell LAS VEGAS BALLPARK.

“Wait till you see it at night lit up,” Logan said of the total package topping the left-field wall.

Devin’s Wall is approximately 420 feet from home plate to the foul-pole corner of City National. It’ll take a healthy poke, but the hockey practice arena will remain in reach of the Pacific Coast League sluggers, Logan said with a mischievous grin.

Pool play

So will the swimming pool just beyond the right-field power alley, an idea borrowed from the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Chase Field. Groups can rent the pool, which will provide a respite from the heat during July and August home stands, for $2,000. The pool will be heated (if necessary), so it also can be used during brisk nights in April.

“The swimming pool is going to be really cool,” Logan said, no pun intended. He said the Aviators probably will have some sort of marker — a la McCovey Cove beyond the right-field wall of San Francisco’s Oracle Park — to commemorate home run balls that get wet.

Aviators’ broadcast analyst Jerry Reuss said the swimming pool rekindled memories of pitching at old Jarry Park in Montreal.

“But that was a public pool, in the park” and not part of the ballpark, Reuss said.

“It was some distance beyond the right-field fence, beyond the scoreboard. I don’t know if a player during the course of a game hit a home run in that direction. But I do know for certain that one landed there in batting practice, because I saw it. It was Richie Allen (then of the Cardinals). He batted left-handed and put one into the pool.”

Reuss said the old ballpark in Colorado Springs (now known as Security Service Field) also had a water feature, but it was more like a hot tub than a swimming pool. It sat in the stands down the right-field line, and Sky Sox fans sometimes would dip a toe in the water to warm up.

“Two ballparks, two features, two totally different times,” Reuss said, adding that he and broadcast partner Russ Langer might consider calling an Aviators game from the pool deck, but under no circumstances would they be wearing bathing suits.

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.