text: Lorenzi Park is an oasis in downtown Las Vegas It is an urban retreat for human beings and ducksnn I had inclined toward visiting Lorenzi Park from the time of last January The lake had been closed for refurbishment there were other parks to explore and a year flew by On a recent Saturday I set out to explore Lorenzi Park before a night on Fremont Streetnn When I spent some time in Lorenzi Park I saw a rectangular parcel alongside Washington Avenue between Valley View and Rancho The manmade lake with the encircling walking paths and Sammy Davis Jr Plaza took up the west section Grassy spaces that could use a slight increase in water and a playground took up the central section Ample parking tennis courts and baseball diamonds took up the east sectionnn In my eyes the manmade lake is the gem of Lorenzi Park It featured some of the best natural entertainers in Las Vegas ducks and geese I am an admirer of ducks geese are cool too and I never get bored watching them play The water they played in is clean and stocked with fish When I looked beyond the lake I saw the Stratosphere clear and tall When the ducks and geese grew tired of the water they rested in their own island The manmade lake reminds me of a smaller version of the one in Sunset Park I would see the manmade lake from the vantage point of the encircling concrete pathways If I were spending hours here there were a handful of benches to sit and watch the ducks and geese The lake also included a manmade island for peoplenn At the time I was walking the concrete walkways the information kiosks taught me facts about Lorenzi Park history Some of this knowledge that I want to pass on is that Lorenzi Park was Twin Lakes Lodge which was a retreat back when much of Vegas was the great outdoors The boathouse is not a typical park building It is a historic building dating back to when this was a lodge And the manmade lake dates back all the way to Another thing I want to share with you that the information signs taught me is that before development Lorenzi Park was contiguous to todays Springs Preserve If US was torn apart Lorenzi Park and Springs Preserve would be continuous I feel that I walked out of Lorenzi Park intellectually smarter than I walked innn I walked into Lorenzi Park streetsmart Owing to the fact that it is an innercity park and anybody could walk in I was mindful of my surroundings If it had been sparsely populated like Charlie Frias Park had been I would of done an abbreviated tour of the park I felt safe with all the people sharing the park They included people fishing moms and children in the playground and people like me walking around I did not see anybody enjoying a picnic at a sheltered table overlooking the manmade lake Looking toward the parking lot I saw a City Marshal patrolling The park in general did well on being graffiti and vandalismfree I only saw a couple of instances of taggingnn By the time I left Lorenzi Park and drove toward Fremont Street I left with the impression that if you are traveling a distance that Lorenzi Park is a nice spot to combine with another downtown attraction After reading the information sign I would recommend combining Lorenzi Park with Springs Preserve Both attractions together are an eventful way to spend time in an oasis that is a Las Vegas before major development Whether you combine Lorenzi Park with another downtown attraction or by itself it lives up to being a decent urban retreat