David Mothus has some advice for anyone who doesn’t know what a competition-calibre pump track looks like.
Download an internet video and you’ll see why pump tracks are irresistible magnets for mountain bike/BMX riders, inline skaters, skateboarders and foot-propelled scooter riders looking for fun and excitement.
Mothus, the three Rotary clubs in the city and the Prince George Community Foundation are designing an all-ages multi-phase sports park for the city, one that promises to give Prince George its own paved-path pump track paradise, featuring roller-coaster straightaways, jumps and steep high-banked corners.
Mothus says the pump track, if it does receive Red Bull certification, would attract competitions and could bring government funding set aside to support the tourism industry.
“If we’re going to build this and we want the city to give us money, one of the things we’ve focused on is making sure there’s justification to make a bigger ask,” said Mothus. “So we need tourism dollars, and how do we get that; build something that brings in tourists and Red Bull-certified pump tracks do. We had to think of something that would bring in tourists.”
Encompassing three acres of land at a yet-to-be-determined site, the park will be the largest of its kind in northern B.C., and will also include:
- A water-spray park with non-slip surfaces and multiple fountains that start/stop in artistic patterns;
- An adventure playground for young kids which will utilize natural products to build playhouses, log pyramids, climbers and swings;
- A teen-themed adventure playground with a parkour-style obstacle course built using large logs and boulders with climbing nets and tower slides. A zipline could also be part of the teen park;
- A network of wellness, strength and mobility workout stations geared to seniors, set up at various places along the trail system through the park;
- A large open-air wooden shelter for people to sit under, located in a central location in the park.
“The whole purpose of the park is that the entire family can be in one spot and have something to do,” said Mothus.
Mindy Stroet, the Prince George Community Foundation’s director of development, is also a mother of three kids, aged four, seven and eight and says the need is there to create a park that offers recreational opportunities that appeal to all ages.
“I have kids in two different age groups, so finding a park that is appropriate for both their abilities was something we always thought about,” said Stroet.
“They have different skill levels on the playground and we’re really hoping this is something the entire family can come down and enjoy, whether its mom and dad or grandparents or whatever, there’s something for everyone.”
The Community Foundation celebrated its 25th anniversary last year and was looking for a legacy project. Nine months ago, Stroet sought the help of Rotary and the expertise of Mothus, the founder of the Facebook site Hell Yeah Prince George. Mothus instigated a fundraising project to create the Blackburn bike park and used his HYPG platform to poll what people want in a multi-use park. He got more than 1,000 responses and used some of those suggestions to help shape what‘s in the initial plan, including making the park wheelchair- and walker-friendly.
The next step of the project will be to go to city council to seek approval for the city to donate the land, provide service connections, washrooms and amenities such as benches, trails and garbage bins. That would be followed by a six-week public consultation process to fine-tune the final design.
Stroet hopes to have the land cleared for the park this year and have construction of most of the elements completed in 2023. While a site hasn’t been finalized, the park will be centrally located in the bowl area of the city, close to public transit routes.
The three Rotary clubs in the city – Nechako, Downtown and Yellowhead – have joined forces to help build the multi-sport park. Rotary has created numerous recreational legacy projects in its seven-decade history in the city. Among the service club’s more prominent initiatives are Connaught Hill Park, Rotary Soccer Fields, and the skateboard parks at Carrie Jane Gray Park and the Hart.
“We looked to see what was missing and we said, let’s build a park for all ages,” said Rod Holmes, president of the Prince George Downtown Rotary Club.
“This is something that’s going to be for everybody and you can do it together as a group. You can have the four-year-olds playing over there and the 10-year-olds playing in their own park and it will challenge their skill sets and keep them engaged and families can be watching over them.
“We believe this to be a project that everybody in Prince George would enjoy. Rotary believes in giving back to the community and that’s what we’re trying to do here.”
Holmes learned that the biggest pump track in Canada is in Chilliwack, which is also the closest one to Prince George. He envisions at least one or two major competitions coming to the city every year. Build the pump track, and they will come.
“There’s a great demand with the bicycling community and this is an aspect they don’t have in Prince George right now,” he said. “They’re generally made from recycled asphalt.
“We want it to be as environmentally-friendly as possible and keep a lot of the nature that’s there already. We’re known for the outdoors so we won’t knock all the trees down and level it and just have a whole bunch of grass around, we’ll have trees and vegetation. They have pump tracks in Ontario and they actually wrap winter events around them. It’s not just four months in the summer.”
Cost of the park project is estimated at $1.5 million and Stroet said the group already has between $500,000 and $600,000 to work with and local businesses have already stepped up with offers to provide materials and labour free of charge. JV Logging has pledged to donate all the ground preparation work and the logs. Bruce Johnston of Access Engineering Consultants agreed to lend his expertise, as did Colliers Project Leaders. Paul Danbrook at PRD Construction Ltd., told Mothus his company will build the park shelter enclosure.
“We haven’t asked anybody for help that hasn’t said yes, 100 per cent,” said Mothus.
The Prince George Cougars will donate proceeds from their Mega 50-50 draw on Saturday, Feb. 26, when they host the Portland Winterhawks. Wood Wheaton Superstore car dealership has guaranteed a jackpot of $60,000, half of which will go to the winning ticketholder. Tickets went on sale today online at www.pgcougars.com.
Plans for the park were announced early in the design stage to take advantage of the Cougars’ draw and Mothus said the final design could change significantly once the public survey is complete.
There are opportunities for sponsorships to allow larger donors to secure park zone naming rights or for individuals who would like to buy items such as climbing ladders or landscaping shrubs or get their names engraved on landscaping bricks.
