Written By: Farah Vitale

The City of Reno will be building a concert venue and dog park downtown. Specifically in the two block-length concrete area in the center of downtown Reno. The train trench lids lay right between Whitney Peak Hotel and Eldorado on Commercial Row and between West and Virginia Street. Soon there will be a brand new concert venue and a community dog park.

Drawing of the dog park plans

Twelve years later and the city is in it’s best financial position and able to fill the space with the concert venue.

Since the tracks were lowered in 2005, the city of Reno staff had been approving plans to use the covers for cafe-style seating, art or event spaces. They had even approved a $16 million pedestrian plaza with large trellises spanning the train trench lids. But the recession had set back those plans and nothing ever got done. Now the city was finally able to get the project into effect, except even better than originally expected. In June they were able to add a special events space on the east trench cover closest to Virginia Street. There’s a fence with new trees and cafe-style lighting surrounding the venue. They want to keep downtown thriving and connected to the University. The venue will host a Thursday night summer concert series and others can use it for weekend events.

A community group called The Biggest Little Dog Park Coalition petitioned the city for $75,000 to help build a dog park on the west trench cover between The Montage and Eldorado parking garage. It was a success! The project is going but group is trying to raise an additional $25,000 or more through the Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation. This would be to pay for the fencing, landscaping, murals and a small entryway arch that looks like the Reno Arch. They want to raise the money by December and hopefully have the park finished by next summer.

Follow Parc Forêt on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. Stay up to date on all things outdoors, as well as Montrêux events and the Reno-Tahoe area!

For real estate inquiries, stop by the beautiful Montrêux Welcome Center at 16475 Bordeaux Dr.  or call us at 775.849.9444. The Welcome Center is open 7 days a week, from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm.