"For the first time, you're going to be able to see him at night." That's how Ward 4 Councilwoman Francis Allen-Palenske put it to FOX5 last spring. She was describing the plan to light the Nevada State Veterans Memorial's 18 statues from below. She told the station the sculptor said that was how he meant the figures to be seen.
The statues used to stand outside a downtown state office building. They now stand at the northwest end of Thunderbird Family Sports Complex, 6105 N. Durango Drive, a park with lacrosse fields and a covered playground. The city set the memorial's opening for Nov. 11, 2026, and lists it under the complex's 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. hours. That makes it a place in Centennial Hills you can stop by on the way home from practice or on a weeknight walk.
Why the Statues Left Downtown
The memorial first stood outside the Grant Sawyer State Office Building. When the state planned its move, the replacement offices had no room for a memorial that covered about two acres, KTNV reported. Allen-Palenske told FOX5 that the old Grant Sawyer site is being redeveloped as market-rate workforce housing.
8 News Now reported the new site in August 2024. Gov. Joe Lombardo's office, Nevada State Public Works, the Nevada Department of Veterans Services and Allen-Palenske had worked to keep the memorial in Las Vegas, and they picked Thunderbird. The next month the station reported that veterans' advocates liked the site for its parking, lighting, restrooms and family access, and because the park already had a military theme.
The land helped keep costs down. The Bureau of Land Management and the federal government own it, so the city didn't have to buy property, FOX5 reported. In a January 2026 release, the city set the project budget at $7.69 million. Funding came through a partnership with the state and the Mayor's Fund for Las Vegas LIFE, a nonprofit that supports city projects. Groundbreaking was on Jan. 14, 2026, and the city set the opening for Veterans Day.
A Memorial Placed Next to a Playground
The memorial's neighbors come from a family park, and the city lists them on its Thunderbird Family Sports Complex page:
- Viper lacrosse fields
- Raptor Play Park
- A covered playground with water play
- An exercise area and walking path
- Shaded picnic shelters, open space and restrooms
The planners meant for the memorial to sit next to all this. Allen-Palenske described it this way to FOX5:
"So secondarily, it's very appropriate to be next to the play park because our veterans that gave their lives for our freedom are the reason why these children are here playing and enjoying and laughing."
From the Nov. 11 opening on, a kid's lacrosse game or a stop at the water play area puts you a short walk from the statues. The city lists the memorial under the same address and the same 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. hours as the rest of the complex.
What the 18 Figures Show
The statues stand 7.5 feet tall. The state commissioned them from sculptor Douwe Blumberg in 2011 to honor American military service from the Revolutionary War to the present. The city's original memorial brochure names the eras and figures:
- Revolutionary War soldiers, including a Native American figure
- A Civil War soldier
- A Spanish-American War soldier
- A World War I soldier
- A World War II soldier and a World War II nurse
- A Korean War soldier
- A Vietnam War soldier
- A Gulf War pilot
- Global War on Terror rescuers
- A family, standing for those who served at home
The brochure describes the Revolutionary War soldier holding his musket "carefully, as it represents the instrument of his liberation," with a stance that is "open and strong." It also says the statues were sculpted in Kentucky and cast in Oklahoma, and that nearly five years of research, design and sculpting went into them. The home-front family is a good place to start if you bring children who are too young for the battlefield figures.
The Amphitheater Took the Biggest Share of the Budget
The new site adds an open-air promenade, landscaping, informational signage and an amphitheater. The city says the project gives Nevada's more than 200,000 veterans "a dedicated place of healing, inspiration and education."
The covered amphitheater was the most expensive piece. According to FOX5, it was designed to keep the space cool and shaded for elderly veterans. Allen-Palenske added a detail you can't see from the ground: "It looks like a stealth bomber from the sky." The same report said the budget also covered a longer parking lot, new lighting, and American flags along the whole edge of the memorial.
In Las Vegas, shade decides whether older visitors can stay through a ceremony, and the amphitheater was built with them in mind. The uplighting serves a different purpose. With the planned uplighting, a visit can wait until evening, after the heat, and still fit within park hours.
Veterans Day at Thunderbird
The city scheduled the grand opening for Wednesday, Nov. 11, from 4:30 to 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. The program lists Mayor Shelley Berkley, Allen-Palenske, Nevada Department of Veterans Services Director Mary Devine and local veterans. The Joint Armed Forces Color Guard presents the colors, and a flyover from Nellis Air Force Base is planned just before the 5 p.m. ceremony. The city planned to stream the ceremony live on city of Las Vegas TV and on the KCLV YouTube channel. Rafael Construction built the project.
The site may keep growing. Allen-Palenske told FOX5 she hopes to add a Purple Heart memorial, a Gold Star Family memorial and possibly a K-9 memorial in the future.
Three More Northwest Dates Before the New Year
The memorial joins a few other free or low-cost stops on this side of the valley this season.
Floyd Lamb Park at Tule Springs waives entry fees on Thanksgiving, Nov. 26, and on Christmas Day, Dec. 25. Winter hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Get there early, because the park closes before sunset on a winter afternoon.
Centennial Hills Library is showing the exhibit "daniella etel courban: Spinning Sefirot" through Jan. 3, 2027.
Centennial Hills Park Amphitheatre, 7101 N. Buffalo Drive, hosts the free, all-ages Young Artists Orchestra Holiday Symphony Concert on Saturday, Dec. 19, at 2 p.m. The city says food and hot drinks will be for sale. It starts at 2 p.m., so there's time afterward to drive over to Durango Drive and reach the memorial before Thunderbird closes at 11 p.m.
Shaun Marion has lived in Las Vegas since the 1980s and has watched the northwest valley fill in around parks like Thunderbird. Every new landmark like this one adds to what living in Centennial Hills means. If you'd like to know how your own corner of the neighborhood is changing, Marion Real Estate Services can walk you through it. When you're curious what your home is worth, get your instant home valuation.
