CHRISTINA EICHELKRAUT / PVT Al Balloqui goes over some ideas for the future of the fairgrounds. Advertisement

Al Balloqui, Pahrump's volunteer economic development coordinator, presented a string of ideas for the town's proposed fairgrounds to the Pahrump Town Board at its regularly scheduled meeting last Tuesday.

Although he had planned to give a PowerPoint presentation, technical difficulties resulted in a none the less enthusiastic presentation to the board.

Balloqui went through a litany of ideas for the fairgrounds, not the least of which included two recently proposed theme parks, a Western-themed venue and a water theme park.

One idea the economic development coordinator was particularly excited about was a "Field of Dreams" sports village.

The village, according to Balloqui, would host up to 72 teams and house 1,152 baseball players for 16 weeks.

In addition, volleyball, basketball, and softball tournaments by local schools would be accommodated.

Because athletes are followed by their fans, Balloqui pointed out that this would bring people in for three- to four-day stays in the community.

Also, Balloqui said another facility proposed for the fairgrounds was a multi-use convention center.

Yet another proposal for the fairgrounds was an Olympic indoor swimming pool, of which one asset would be that it would be a facility that could be used year-round.

To accommodate the town's many rodeo and equestrian events, Balloqui proposed a 75,000-square-foot arena, which would cover about 75 to 80 acres.

Additional ideas included an RV park, a multi-screen movie theater complex, a performing arts center, and a park and ride transit system with transportation to Las Vegas.

Balloqui stressed the economic impact the proposed projects could have on the town.

He estimated the net revenue generated from the athletic village to be approximately $1.5 million, with $160 million of revenue generated through job creation.

The rodeo and equestrian arena is also estimated to garner $1.5 million in net revenue, and pay about $500,000 in employment.

An RV park could generate $600,000, Balloqui said.

And as far as the convention center goes, the economic development coordinator said, "the sky's the limit."

As far as when these projects would break ground, Balloqui estimated approximately seven to 11 months for the first project to break ground.