The journey to Elkford’s bike park has crossed the (funding) finish line.
All the required funding has been secured for the park to go ahead – a grand total of $385,587 made up of grants and donations, gathered over two years of fundraising.
Elkford Bike Club president and founder Jason Meldrum is the man who got the ball rolling back in August 2020, when he put a call out for support for a bike park to give young kids more to do in town. A shade under two years later, he said it was amazing to have come so far.
“It feels good. It’s pretty awesome,” he said, adding that if the club hadn’t joined up with the district to push the project it could have taken twice as long.
The district was instrumental in securing a $250,000 grant from the Columbia Basin Trust, while the latest contribution was a $13,000 donation from the Elkford Project Society, which got it to the funding target.
Meldrum said the journey was a long one – he and his son, Carter, were drumming up support and asking for donations from the go.
“It was always a roller coaster. There were times early on I thought we could do it the next Spring, and then I realized the magnitude.”
Construction of the park is set to start in coming days, with Contour Trails from Vernon taking on design and construction.
“They should be rolling in this weekend,” said Meldrum.
Carter Meldrum isn’t in town for the big news, but the new park would be a welcome sight to come back to for Elkford’s youth. “A lot of these kids are on summer holidays, so they’re going to have a bike park when they come back.”
While designed to be a beginner-level park, Meldrum said they could add more later.
“There is going to be room to add advanced jump-lines down the road,” he said, adding that the Elkford Bike Club would be staying active to help maintain the park, organize events.
If all goes well, the new Elkford Bike Park should be completed by the Labour Day weekend in early September, while the club hopes to have a grand opening in the Spring.
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scott.tibballs@thefreepress.ca
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