Update 6/2/04 - Information provided by Ben Cashman

A meeting was held on June 1, 2004 to discuss the status of the park and things are rolling along quickly at this point. Mike from RAM Construction hopes to be done with the heavy earth moving and general placement of the jump mounds by the end of this week. A select group of experienced jump builders will be tweaking the two larger lines of the park this coming weekend.

A major work party is tentatively planned for the weekend of June 12th and 13th. Volunteers will be needed to lay sod, gravel for paths, etc. Details will be posted as soon as the work party dates are finalized, keep watching for details and feel free to email Matt if you would like to volunteer.

Currently the main goal is to get the two big lines tweaked and ready to ride by the end of next week so they can are dialed in with plenty of time for the Kona Belly Big Air Contest being held at the park on June 27th.

Update 5/26/04

In a message from Mark Peterson of the WHIMPS -

Hello All:

I had a very good conversation with Mike at RAM construction today. He is really going above and beyond for us and their expenses related to this charitble work are quite high. Much higher than I anticipated for sure. But Mike is very happy to be doing the work for us and is happy to contribute something back to the community.

Unfortunately, some of his equipment was vandalized and word on the street is it stems from the skateboard crowd. They have voiced their oppostion to the DJ park in not so appropriate ways and this may be just one of them. At one point he was considering donating a similar contribution to the skateboard expansion but that now seems to be a vanishing thought. Once again it shows monkey wrenching accomplishes nothing but animosity and in the end most likely will hurt your cause than help it.

Regardless, the above actions have contributed even more to the costs associated with doing the park because he will now have to move his equipment off site each evening. As a result things may go a bit slower that expected and we will need to show some more patience. Anyone that cruises by will see that already a HUGE amount has been accomplished.

Ram's plan is to wrap this thing up as soon as possible hopefully by the end of next week. What we need to do to help is start to round up a bunch of volunteers ready to roll on short notice. They will need help from us to lay sod, final raking of the bio-swale and shaping of the jumps.

They will be assessing the progess today and will be in contact with myself to help coordinate volunteer crews. We will need to have Ben and some others that are adept at assessing jumps to be out there when they start to rough them in with the equipment.

It's exciting and the park is going to be REALLY cool and a great addition to our parks system.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Cheers,

Mark Peterson, WHIMPs Prez

May 20, 2004 - Update:
Good news!

Ram Construction is on-site, breaking up the concrete slab where the old bins were, getting ready to move dirt around. Thanks to everyone for your patience. Stay tuned for future volunteer work parties.

May 4, 2004 - Update:
Mark from Granite Concrete has begun moving the bulk storage blocks from the dirt jump site. Ram Construction will begin moving earth in the next few weeks.

April 26, 2004 Update: - From City of Bellingham

I know a lot of you have been wondering when the bike jump park at Civic is going to start. Here is the latest:

Mark Salsbury from Granite Concrete has volunteered to relocate the concrete bulk storage bins for the City. The bins were placed in their current location by the contractor who built Puget Street through Civic Park about 5 years ago. The Parks Dept is willing to re-locate this storage area to make way for the bike jump park. Since Mark's company makes and hauls the eco-blocks that make up the bulk storage units, he has the equipment to do the job. There are 98 individual blocks and the parks dept could only move one at a time! Mark can move about 1/3 of the blocks at a time. He has indicated he can start this work next week.

Ram Construction has volunteered to move the dirt to actually shape the jumps. Ram is busy working on some other construction projects (that they are actually getting paid for!) Mike Hammes from Ram told me he would have an open window soon to get in and start the work. When he is done moving the major portion of the dirt and shaping the jumps, we will be calling for volunteers to help finish the grading by hand, plant seed or lay sod, and relocate some of the trees that are currently on site.

Although I cannot give you a definite start or completion time, the City and the future users of the park are fortunate that these companies are willing to do the work in their spare time. If this were a city project, we would just now be discussing the budget for the work to occur sometime in 2005. As it is, I think you all will be riding there this summer.

Leslie Bryson
Design and Development Manager
Bellingham Parks and Recreation Dept.
360-676-6985


Quotes:

"Hopefully people respect the park and do not ruin the jumps. The park will reduce illegal building of jumps which are dangerous more than half the time anyway. I also hope that it brings in people of all ages and skill levels, from experts to beginners."
-David Waugh