325 VFW Historic Ln, Reno, NV 89509

Jack Tighe Memorial Fields

Park Description:

Jack Tighe Memorial Fields is an 8-acre Reno park with restrooms (opened seasonally: late April-early October weather permitting).

Park Amenities:

Baseball/softball fields.

Park Highlights

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Park History

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Ball Fields

The story of the ball fields begins in 1964 when the city first developed a plan for the Jack Tighe Memorial Fields. The first phase included a baseball diamond, as well as a picnic area to serve as a noise buffer between the park and the neighborhood. Reno’s Continental Little League was the first organization to use the field, and they still use it today. League officials, along with Reno city officials, sponsors, and the public attended the dedication ceremony on May 18, 1964.

The park hosted the 1965 Little League Western Regional Tournament. By the next year, the ball field was upgraded with a second Little League field and a Babe Ruth ball field plus fencing, irrigation, and two scoreboards donated by a local business. The original lighting for night games was installed in 1968.

In 1969, the city expanded the park to eight acres by purchasing land behind the Moana swimming pool; the pool no longer exists—it is now part of the parking area. Over the years the city has installed new lighting, restrooms, concession stands, improved scoreboards, and a tee-ball field. Many local businesses have donated free services, equipment, or money for the upkeep and improvement of the field.

Image:
Little League practice. Source: Reno Continental Little League, Facebook.

Jack Tighe

The ball fields are named in honor of Jack Tighe, a prominent sports figure in Reno and friend to youth athletics, who died in a 1963 car accident, the year before the ball fields opened. Tighe was native to Scranton, Pennsylvania, born in 1923. He had a very notable athletic career for much of his life. At Penn State College (now Penn State University) he was most known for his boxing prowess. As a welter and middleweight boxer, he earned and defended his four titles as national champion in the 1940s. He was a lineman on their Sugar Bowl team. As one of the college’s star athletes, he was awarded Outstanding Athlete in 1948.

Tighe served and fought in the Army in WWII and again in the Korean War. He coached boxing for several champions, including Olympians. After arriving in Reno in 1957 he became involved in youth sports as commissioner for Sierra Nevada Amateur Athletic Union and was appointed to the Nevada Athletic Commission. He was named Sportsman of the Year in 1959. Besides sports, he worked for the Universe Life Insurance Co. and had a master’s degree from the University of Illinois.

Image:
Logo for the Amateur Athletic Union.

Moana Hot Springs

The property on which the ball fields reside was once the “world famous” Moana Hot Springs resort. In the early 1900s, people thought the hot mineral springs found under ground in the Truckee Meadows area (and throughout the west) promoted good health. With that in mind, three entrepreneurs opened a health and pleasure resort in 1905 which piped hot mineral water into several pools.

Now all that’s left is the historical marker, which states that the resort was bought by Louis Berrum in 1913 and hosted more than swimming…such as dances, rodeos, boxing matches, trap shoots, circuses, and aviation exhibitions. To cater to many visitors, the Berrum family built a trolley line from downtown Reno.

Reno purchased the property in 1956 and tore down the buildings to create a recreational complex, including an indoor swimming pool. It too was eventually torn down and is now a parking lot.

Image:
Bath house at Moana Springs. Source: Jed Black, The Western Nevada Historic Photo Collection.

Nearby Points of Interest

The Veterans of Foreign War building located next to Jack Tighe Memorial Fields was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in June 2008. According to the plaque at the site, the building was built in 1947 by VFW Post #407 and Post #922, and hosted a speech by President Barack Obama in July 2012 for the VFW’s 113th National Convention held at the Reno Convention Center.

The Atlantis Casino Resort Spa had originally been the Golden Road Motor Inn during the 1970s. It changed names several times over the years, but became the Atlantis in 1996. It has been expanding and remodeling ever since.

The Cochran Ditch lies beneath the corner at the property by West Moana Lane and Baker Lane. Many ditches were dug by early settlers to bring water from the Truckee River to the agricultural fields of the meadows. Most of the Cochran Ditch is now underground as it winds through the urban areas of Reno, and continues to supply water for Virginia Lake.

Image:

West Moana Lane and Baker Lane

The park is bordered on its east side by Baker Lane. This street is named after Ted Baker and his riding stable and polo fields, which were located just south of the park on land leased from the University of Nevada Stock Farm from around 1930.

Ted Baker, who died in 1971 at the age of 70, was very well known in the state as an outstanding horseman. The Baker Riding Stables were an icon in Reno for many years as a place to learn to ride horses or attend a barn dance. In the 1930s, polo was very popular in Reno thanks in part to Baker. Occasionally, Hollywood celebrities such as Alfred Hitchcock, Arline Judge, and Guinn “Big Boy” Williams attended the polo matches.

West Moana Lane borders the park on the north side. The name is said to have come from Charles T. Short, who had visited Hawaii in early 1900s and came back to Reno to open Moana Hot Springs in 1905. Moana has several different meanings in the Hawaiian language, but the translation Short went with was, “ocean, open sea.” You can tell who is new to the area, since long-time Reno-ites pronounce the road as “mo-ann-uh” rather than “mo-ah-na.”

Image:
Guinn “Big Boy” Williams. Source: Online - True West Magazine.

Jack Tighe Fields Through Time

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Jack Tighe Memorial Fields on iNaturalist

Contact:

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Want To Learn More?

References & Further Info:

City of Reno Parks & Facilities Directory - Jack Tighe Memorial Fields
City of Reno: Jack Tighe Memorial Fields
Jack Tighe: Facebook Page
Reno Historical: Moana Springs
Full list of sources...

Contributor(s):

Jill Richardson (history)

Haley McGuire

Alex Shahbazi

Last Updated:

May 11, 2021, 12:47:25 AM

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