Call it a labour of love.
It seems the heart of the city has a soft spot for its BMX track.
Local businesses, city council and club members responded overwhelmingly with donations of cash, labour, equipment and materials to take on the project of revamping the local track at Carrie Jane Gray Park and that generosity went well beyond the expectations of the Supertrak BMX Club.
The track was given a total dirt, concrete and steel makeover worth an estimated $200,000, which includes installation of a new start gate. Now Supertrak has a longer, more challenging facility with bigger hills and steeper corners, one that no longer falls short by comparison to other tracks in the province.
On Saturday, the club is inviting members of the public and a list of dignitaries to come out and check it out for themselves at the grand opening of Rolling Mix BMX Track. The special event, which starts at 11 a.m. Saturday, featuring facepainting, tricycle races and short sprint bike races, will precede the club's annual Race For Life, a fundraising event to benefit BC Children's Hospital.
"It's just amazing, how people came together on this," said Supertrak club spokesperson Derek Orr.
"John Paolucci from Rolling Mix has been amazing and didn't hesitate when I asked for help.
"The whole premise behind it was our kids weren't able to compete very well out of town because out track was substandard compared to a lot of the tracks in other cities. Now I think we have one of the best tracks, if not THE best track in B.C."
Orr should know. He races BMX himself, along with his 10-year-old son Owen, and is now in his third season competing in the adult cruiser class.
The improvement project started in May, when the old track met the blade of a bulldozer and was flattened. The City of Prince George contributed $44,000 to the project and Northern Development Initiative Trust provided a $30,000. The NDIT grant covered the cost of the eight-lane start gate.
Other contributors to the project were: Bragg Construction (concrete work on start hill); Screaming Eagle Contracting (equipment for track build and start hill); Husky Energy ($1000 donation); Leavitt Machinery (building materials for start hill roof); Trident Lock and Security (alarm system and locks for motoshed and new seacans); Fred Surridge (water works supplies for new track build); BID Construction ($10,000 donation); and Forbes Industrial Contractors (engineered project drawings, equipment, fuel).
"I figure we're close to $200,000," said Orr. "It's amazing just how hard our president (Corrie Anderson) and the club directors worked to make this happen. We're down to the crunch time and the last week they've been down there until 9 o'clock at night to make this happen. We're just finalizing the (new start gate) and taking the other one down and that was a monumental task they did."
Mayor Lyn Hall and officials from Rolling Mix Concrete and the club executive will be on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at 1 p.m. The races start at 2:30 p.m.
Orr said Prince George is rumoured to be in the mix next year to host a provincial series race weekend, which could bring as many as 400 riders. The last time that event was hosted in Prince George was in August 2013.
