Jasper Park Cycling Association hopes to raise $20,000 by Christmas to make new bike park a reality
The new bike park, with plans to be launched in spring 2017, will cost approximated $200,000 to build, officials say.
If everything goes to plan, Jasper, Alta., will be getting a new bike park in the town’s west end.
AÂ big round of thanks for that development is due to the infusion of more than $13,000 in donations from local businesses, the Fitzhugh reports.
As the Jasper-based publication reported, speaking with officials from the local cycling association, that seed of donations is expected to kick off a larger campaign of fundraising. “Our goal,” Matt Staneland, the Jasper Park Cycling Association’s chairperson, said, “is to fundraise $20,000 by Christmas. I think this will be a great thing for the community for generations to come.”
That first infusion of money, Staneland said, came from a number of  Jasper businesses, such as the Mount Robson Inn, Bear’s Paw Bakery and Fiddle River Restaurant, with additional funding coming from Hosteling International.
To meet the goal of $20,000, the association will likely have to dig a bit deeper.
While working with Hoots Inc., a Vancouver-based company that specializes in building bike parks, the Jasper Park Cycling Association has applied for additional funding from Jasper’s community economic development fund, and has reached out to other not-for-profit organizations, too, such as the Jasper Rotary Club and the Jasper Lions Club. Names like CN Rail, ATCO Electric and Kinder Morgan have also been singled out as potential benefactors.
When that bike park is finished—and it’s hoped that the initial $20,000 in funding will be enough to begin design and site preparation—the new facility for mountain riders will be a new cycling highlight of the Rocky Mountain community. Approved by Parks Canada on Aug. 4, the park will be built between the train tracks and Connaught Drive, directly adjacent to Mount Robson Inn and Maligne Lodge in the western reaches of Jasper. And with a Nov. 23 event planned as a community information night and forum at the Jasper Royal Canadian Legion, November, Staneland said, will be critical in making the bike park a reality.
“We’re hopeful that November will be a big month for us,” Staneland said.
