Vancouver Washington information update

OK. Time to clear up a few things from yesterday’s post about the progress of Vancouver Washington’s Pacific Community Park Extreme Sports Park. I was totally off base on the BMX track. Somehow I got it in my head that there was going to be a dirt track for BMX at the Pacific Community Park Extreme Sports Park. That is not the case, and BMX will be allowed on the concrete. Before you start complaining you should know that according to the Parks Communications Specialist, the turnout of BMX riders at the public meetings significantly outnumbered that of skaters, especially in the early planning and design phases. Although the whole complex will not open until 2008, they are going to open the skatepark section after it is finished, and the street course is scheduled to open at the same time as the bowl. More information, including the projected opening date and a sneak peek at what phase 2 might look like after the jump.

From Jilayne Jordan, who is Parks Communications Specialist for the Vancouver-Clark Washington Parks & Recreation: Greater Clark Parks District. Whew. That’s a mouthful.

I think we had talked at one point during the planning of Pacific Park about having a separate BMX track, but nothing really came out of the discussion. Due to lack of funds to provide separate facilities (or ANY facilities for that matter), we are probably more likely to build the co-habitation-type facilities in order to meet the needs of both groups. Pacific Park was unique in that we had a lot more BMXers than skaters turn out at the public meetings and design workshops we had for the Extreme Sports Park during the early planning phase.

We have been given the go ahead to open it after Grindline finishes construction. Grindline will be building the street features included in Phase 1, as well as a section of sidewalk that goes around the outside of the whole thing over the next month or so. At this time, Grindline doesn’t expect to be totally done with the park until mid-July. As soon as they’re done, the county will relocate the fences, get some signage up, and bring in trash cans and possibly a porta-potty before opening it to the public.

I’m actually planning to host a meeting later this month for local skaters and BMXers to find out more about the Extreme Sports Park opening early, and to learn about the second phase of the park and how to help raise money to build it. Parking will be minimal until the rest of the park is finished next year, so we want to encourage folks to skate, bike, take the bus, get dropped off, or carpool to the park
whenever possible. I also want to ask skaters and BMXers to help me write the park rules and other informational signs that will go in the park. The meeting can also serve as a forum for local
skaters and BMXers to talk about other issues and needs in Clark County.