A Cranbrook-based club has approached the city with an idea for a bike skills park beside the Skateboard Park.

Bonnie Hayes, a board member with the Cranbrook Bike Skills Park Society, and two other club members spoke with City of Cranbrook council August 15 and they outlined the benefits of adding such an attraction to the city.

Noting the successes of similar, larger parks in Creston, Kimberley and Fernie, Hayes told council it is a logical next step for the largest city in the region to have its own bike skills park.

She pointed out that a good location for the proposed park would be beside the skateboard park and the hillside, adding it would be smaller than those in other communities.

The location would work because it is central, Hayes said.

“A central location is key,” she said, adding that bike skills parks become “a family kind of thing.”

Bike Skills Park Society member Ryan Hamilton, a Mount Baker Secondary School teacher, told council there is a desire among local youth for such a park. “That’s why we’re here,” he said.

“This gets them into the community and out of the forests and provides for much greater safety,” Hamilton said of young riders heading into nearby forests to create makeshift riding tracks.

The proposed park would include dirt jumps, which the riders mostly maintain themselves, and a ‘pump track.’

“It will challenge and improve the skills they already have,” Hayes said.

Society member James McKee, a bike shop owner in the city, explained to council that a national class rider, originally from Kimberley, is on side to design the park.

“He is quite eager to give back to a community that helped him get his start,” he said.

To give council an idea of the growing interest in their idea, she noted the society’s membership is at 132, and 41 of them are aged 16 to 25. And that membership has come without a effort to seek members.

“We do have some broad spectrum support,” Hayes said, adding that a bike skills park would boost Cranbrook’s economic picture, as well, from such things as food and drink sales. She told council about her trips to Fernie with her son and his friends so they could use the park there. “Trust me, those boys can eat!”

Biking at well-designed parks is far from being a passing fad, Hayes continued.

“It’s something that is world-wide. It’s not just a local fad,” she said. “It is the neatest thing to sit in Fernie and watch families ride together. It really is something that would bring more people into the park down there,” she stated, adding with a laugh, “I’m really tired of having to drive my kid around – please help me!”

Coun. Denise Pallesen was the first elected official to ask the obvious question: how much?
Hayes said Fernie’s park cost about $50,000, with most of the costs taken up by in-kind help and donations.

“We’re hoping for the same thing,” she said, adding they have irons in a couple of other funding fires.

In addition, maintenance costs are kept down by the riders themselves.

“The kids do take ownership of the parks,” Hayes said. “They bring their shovels and rakes” and fix jumps as needed.

After hearing the delegation, Mayor Scott Manjak suggested the society take it upon itself to visit home owners in the immediate area to gauge their views and hear their concerns.

“When we first put in the skatepark down there, there were considerable concerns from the neighbourhood,” he said.

“That’s our next steps,” Hayes replied.

Several council members sounded enthused about the proposal.

“I think it is a breath of fresh air” to see adults and kids working together, said Coun. Angus Davis. “It’s a great idea.”

Coun. Diana J. Scott said she has heard from kids in the community who want more things to do.

“A lot of this seems to be really good” and won’t be expensive to create, she said, adding, “I like the fact adults tend to go as well” as that cuts down on “unwanted behaviour.”
Ian Cobb/e-KNOW

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