Andy Harris travels hours so his kids can compete in cycling tournaments.
The Williamsport residents said the city’s proposed BMX park could mean money for local businesses.
“It’s not going to be anywhere else around here, other than State College I believe. They can draw people in,” Harris said during a public design workshop last week that filled Trade Transit Centre II with BMX, skateboard and cycling enthusiasts.
They see tourism potential in Shaw Place Park’s new BMX park planned for next year.
Karl Fisher, a Lycoming Composite Mountain Bike team member, said local mountain bike events like Iron Cross attract a couple hundred cyclists and BMX tournaments could do the same.
“Folks are coming out and they’re spending the day. There’s racing, vendors, often there are bike companies that will come. They do skills classes and kind of open that up. It’s a little bit more of a festival style event than going to a baseball game,” Fisher said.
The composite team, made up of county-wide adolescent cyclists and coaches, helped push the Lycoming County commissioners to get $250,000 for a park in 2023. Another $500,000 was awarded by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources the same year, city Mayor Derek Slaughter. said.
“It was a $250,000 grant from the state with a local match of $250,000,” he said.
The city hired Arizona-based Pillar Design Studios in June to design and build a BMX biking facility. The company is teaming up with Pump Tracks USA, which specializes in BMX parks.
“We really had to get serious and figure out what we wanted to do once we got the grant. We went to the bid phase, got the proposals in, ultimately went with Pillar Design Group and Pump Tracks USA,” Slaughter said.
Pillar Design Studios’ owner Brad Siedlecki, a skateboarder and former motocross racer, asked for recommendations at the meeting.
“I’ve gotten my fingers in a lot of the action sports world. That is really what my company focuses on and specializes in. We develop action sports parks. What we’ll do is we always bring in a specific partner that specializes in those genres,” Siedlecki said.
The park will have two different tracks. The pump track will be made from asphalt with hills and curves. The skills park will be made of sand with obstacles.
“It’s a step up from the dirt,” Siedlecki said about the pump track. “It’s not concrete but it’s going to be something that’s going to last a lot longer and have a lot less maintenance in the long run.”
Attendees wanted novice level areas for beginners and kids.
“It’s important to have something available for the tots, just so we have an entry point for everybody,” composite bike team member John Sholmek said.
Siedlecki plans on including a beginner area.
“We’ll add a couple wood features into the pump track, and then we’ll do the rest of the skills,” he said.
Siedlecki said designs are open for different course types and obstacles, including skinnies, rock gardens, A-frames, zig zags and more. He said this will be the next stage of designing with concrete-made boulder zones.
Concrete lasts longer than natural materials and is more customizable, Siedlecki said.
“I’ll come up with some ideas and maybe throw it out there and see what everybody’s thinking, and kind of throw some budget numbers at it, see if it’s doable, because it would be cool. We always love to do something super customized for every project we do,” he said.
Siedlecki hopes to finish design and construction documents by March. He expects to break ground by next summer.
Slaughter envisions a multi-sports complex some day at Shaw Park.
“You may have basketball tournaments, bike events, soccer tournaments, tennis tournaments, pickleball tournaments, whatever,” Slaughter said.
Green space north of the BMX park could turn into a combination soccer and football field. Shaw Park could see a skate park for phase two. The city needs to find more money to build that, Slaughter said.
“We’re hopeful that DCNR (state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources) continues to see the progress and investments we’re making, and they continue to fund our city and fund our parks and recreation,” the mayor said.
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