Bike Park Approved in Rainbow Falls

CHESTERMERE – Persistence paid off in the form of a Mountain Skills Bike Park that was just approved in the Rainbow Falls area of Chestermere. Town Council voted in favour supporting the Rainbow Creek Municipal reserve site to build a permanent bike skills park. The Town entered into an agreement with Rocky View Schools to lease them an acre of the site as an open play area for Rainbow Creek School as that area has been compromised with the expansion of the portables at the school.
The next steps of the project are that the Bike Park Committee will be entering into a contract with Alpine Bike Parks, from Whistler B.C., to work with the community to design the park and develop the construction documents. Construction of the park is planned for this summer.
The Town is committed to this community project in the provision of the Municipal Reserve land, the time of Town staff to support the project, and the use of Public Works equipment and equipment operators to do the construction of the major landforms of the park. The expectation was that, as was the case with the temporary park, funding would be sought from other sources for cash costs associated with building the park and that strong volunteer support would be used for hand-shaping the jumps, doing the finishing work on the park, and supporting ongoing maintenance of the park upon completion.
Although not all of the residents surrounding the bike park were in favour of it, overall they did support it. Where residents differed was regarding whether the proposed site is the right place to build the park.
Fundraising efforts have been very successful to date. Contributions from ACE, Melcor, the CCRRB, the Bow North Rec Board and the United Way will be covering the costs of contracting Alpine Bike Parks to work with the community to design the concept for the park, create detailed construction documents and be on-site to consult during construction of the park, to ensure it is built to design specifications.
The Chestermere Rotary Club has taken on responsibility for raising the funds for the non-dirt features of the park which includes pre-engineered technical features, seating, and signage.