 Helping build a new outdoor pavilion, Steve Lindsay (left) and Julio Nuñez of Summers Masonry cement stones this week that were salvaged from the Bock family's one-time bomb shelter/garage that was recently demolished at Red Rock Canyon Open Space. The goal is to match the original rock work, as shown in the rear wall and upper fireplace chimney. Rock facing will also be added to the cement blocks that had to be added around the chimney because of stability issues. Westside Pioneer photo
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The $359,000 project had begun in early September with the demolition of a former house and bomb shelter/garage on either side of the Red Rock Canyon Trail (a few hundred feet south of the nearest parking lot). Stone and timbers from those structures are now being reused in building the partially open-air pavilion where the house had been.
Contractor Charlie Paterson said the “unknowns” stemmed from stability concerns. City Parks had hoped to keep more of the original house interior - most prominently a second fireplace - but these plans had to be altered. Paterson's crews have since built about a 10-foot-high concrete-block wall around that fireplace to secure it better, he explained, and eventually, the wall will be given rock facing to make it look more natural.
With the stability problems behind him, Paterson said it's possible to plan a schedule with more precision, and that schedule now shows the pavilion being ready for use Dec. 19.
He likes the way the work is turning out, and citizens - who hike or bike past the site every day - seem to agree. “I'm not sure we've had any negative comments,” Paterson said. “For the most part, people are liking it.”
The pavilion project was funded with Trails, Open Space and Parks (TOPS) funds, except for $100,000 that was raised by the volunteer Friends of Red Rock Canyon during a donation campaign last year. The Friends group had also asked City Council (without success) to consider building the pavilion without tearing down the bomb shelter.
 As hikers stroll up the Red Rock Canyon Trail, a worker (foreground) gets ready to saw a salvaged timber while on the opposite side of the trail work continues on the new Red Rock pavilion this week. Westside Pioneer photo
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Westside Pioneer article