The Town of Blackfalds officially opened their new Bike Skills Park, after the 12 acre park was completed in August of 2017.
The park accommodates all ages and skill levels and is ideally located beside the skate park and is also near the Abbey Centre.
“Today we are celebrating the opening of our Bike Skills Event,” Mayor Richard Poole said. “It is an exciting event, which includes our regional partners, a lot of our citizens and demonstrations from expert bikers.”
Poole said the project was approved for construction in March of 2017, recognizing a recreation gap in the community.
“We were looking into the possibility of providing opportunities for people of all ages in our community and this looked like an opportunity to create something for people with some different interests. We decided to move forward,” he said.
Having the Bike Skills Park surrounded by other Town facilities is “marvelous” according to Poole.
“We have all these facilities in one place and part of that comes from the excellent relationship we have with the Wolf Creek Public School Board,” he said. “This used to be the school board’s land then there was a land swap done which allowed us to move our parks here and their schools will be on the east part of this property.”
Poole said the Town is excited for youths and adults alike to grow their skills at the park.
“This is a three-level skill park: you have basic, intermediate and you have advanced,” he said. “It has the potential with a little work to provide some provincial competition. We are going to look into that and work on that. No promises that will happen but that is something we built into the park.”
Day-to-day use and operation will grow and develop with time, according to Poole.
“We are hoping to develop a group of core individuals and youth to develop a club, which will help to provide training and safety — and also to help maintain the park. Everyone can feel like it is their park and they will want to keep it in great condition.”
He added he hopes everyone has a great time enjoying the Bike Skills Park.
