City council will decide whether to contribute $90,000 towards construction of an all-wheels adventure park in Blackburn during budget discussions later this year.
Council members voted unanimously on Monday night to include the request as an "enhancement" or increase to the property tax levy after receiving an update on the project on Monday night.
Receiving the money will be key to seeing the long-awaited project go ahead, Blackburn Community Association director Dave Mothus said in an interview on Thursday.
"It would crush us," Mothus said when asked what would happen if council balked.
However, he is also confident that won't happen, noting the clear support among existing council members and a sense it remains just as strong among the non-incumbents seeking a spot on council during elections on Oct. 22. Budget talks will begin after a new council is elected.
Cost of the project, which will consist of a skateboard park, a pump track for BMXers and scooter riders and a mountain bike skills trail, was originally estimated at $400,000.
However, that was for an asphalt surface as opposed to more expensive but longer-lasting concrete. With the city to take over the facility once it is constructed, Mothus said the preference was to move up to concrete to avoid having to resurface the site every five years which would cost more money over the long term.
Replacing asphalt with concrete pushed the bill up to $700,000 but it was subsequently reduced to about $600,000. "We got them to make the pad a little bit thinner to reduce some of our costs," Mothus said.
Project supporters have been able to convince several sources to provide donations both in cash and in kind. Notably, Re/Max Centre City Realty has agreed to pony up $120,000 over a two-year period, paid for through monthly contributions from each agent.
Proponents have also applied for $193,000 from the provincial government's capital gaming grant program and will know in October whether they've been successful. If they are, and council agrees to provide $90,000, the project will be constructed in one phase.
If the gaming grant doesn't come through but council still includes the $90,000 in the 2019 budget, the project will be built in three phases, Mothus said.
