Idlewild Park (Reno, Nevada) facts for kids
Idlewild Park is a big, fun park in Reno, Nevada, right next to the Truckee River. It's about 49 acres, which is like 37 football fields! This park has lots of cool things to do, like a beautiful rose garden, ponds with ducks, two playgrounds for kids, a swimming pool, and a skate park. Every year, people celebrate Earth Day here, and during the summer, you can find yummy food trucks at the Reno Street Food event. The park is also home to a special old building called the California Building.
California Building
The California Building is a historic spot within Idlewild Park. It was built in 1927 for a big event called the Transcontinental Highway Exposition. This event celebrated the completion of a major highway that went right through Reno. Later, in 1938, a group called the American Legion gave the building to the City of Reno. Today, the California Building is used for many different events, like cultural gatherings, special parties, and meetings.
Rose Garden
Idlewild Park has a beautiful Rose Garden that was started in 1958. It was created thanks to a person named Fred Galloway, who worked for the City of Reno taking care of plants for over 25 years. The garden is now named in his honor. This Rose Garden is very special because it's the only one in the entire State of Nevada that is officially approved by the American Rose Society. It covers one acre of the park and has more than 200 different kinds of roses, with over 1,750 rose bushes in total!
Park History
Idlewild Park and the California Building were actually gifts to Reno from the State of California. This happened when cars were becoming very popular, and Reno became an important stop for two new major highways that crossed the country. These were the Lincoln Highway (which is now U.S. 50) and the Victory Highway (which used to be U.S. 40 through Reno, now 4th Street). To celebrate these new roads, the 1927 Transcontinental Highway Exposition was held. The first famous Reno Arch, which was built for this big event, was actually moved to Idlewild Park before it found its current home spanning Lake Street, next to the National Automobile Museum.
