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Quesnel Bike Park ready for June construction

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Dwayne Sales and Lori Carifelle admire the mounds of dirt piled in Alex Fraser Park in preparation for construction of the Bike Skills Park.

With the dumping of 150 loads of recycled dirt from the Alex Fraser Park drainage project, Quesnel’s Bike Skills Park construction is that much closer to reality.

With the two-week construction expected to begin June 1 under the guidance of Duncan MacKenie of D-Mac Trails from Whistler, Gold Rush Cycling Club is thrilled with the donations to date and grateful for the tremendous community support.

With the cost of the park estimated at $130,000, Lori Carifelle is pleased to report they have secured, between monetary donations and in-kind support, $117,322.

Sunrise Rotary pledged $15,000 and Community Futures another $15,000. Way-len Trucking, Rob Hewitt, and Quesnel Septic have all pledged equipment contributions. P&R Productions and Eclipse Design are providing their expertise while City of Quesnel and CRD, through the joint planning committee designated the land beside the Arts and Rec Centre and city insurance to the project along with the loads of dirt from the City of Quesnel.

Gold Rush Cycling club pledgeda minimum of 500 hours of volunteer labour.

“We’re still looking for monetary donations,” Carifelle said.

“They can be made at City Hall and all donations over $20 receive a tax receipt.”

The 31,000 sq. ft. park will have three distinct areas ranging from a track for inexperienced and young cyclists up to about age 12, to a pump track with one-foot jumps and other features to what they’re calling the freestyle area with larger, more challenging features.

MacKenie will remain on site until the park is complete and Carifelle said they’re looking for the loan of a travel trailer for him to stay in during construction.

Once he arrives work will get underway with completion expected by the end of June.

Volunteers are still needed to help with the work and MacKenie said he can keep them busy on evenings and weekends.

“When machines are working on site I would rather not have extra people around for safety reasons,” he added.

Anyone who can spare a few hours for this project can reach Carifelle at 250-992-2480 or e-mail lcarifelle@gmail.com.

“We’re looking forward to the addition of the Bike Skills Park to the community,” Carifelle said.