The Municipality of Jasper will provide up to $225,000 of support for the second and final phase of Jasper’s bike park.

Municipal councillors voted unanimously in support of a motion made by Councillor Laurie Rodger during the Tuesday, September 1 regular council meeting.

The Municipality will provide up to $125,000 cash contribution to be funded through debenture, up to $10,000 gifts-in-kind and up to $90,000 in a repayable loan. The Jasper Park Cycling Association, also known as Bike Jasper, will cover the remaining $143,000 for the $368,000 project.

Coun. Wendy Hall said the support falls in line with how much the Municipality supported the skatepark.

“These assets that get built from the ground up by dedicated groups of volunteers that put a lot of time and energy into making this happen, there’s a real value in that,” she said. “There’s a real value in us stepping up and helping them get this across the finish line.”

The project is expected to be completed this fall.

Located in the southwest corner of town, the bike park sits on land administered by the Municipality and is managed and maintained in partnership with Bike Jasper.

Bike Jasper completed phase one of the bike park in 2022, building the start hill, jump lines and drop zone. It cost $50,000 in cash and $100,000 in gifts-in-kind from the Municipality and many local businesses, plus hundreds of volunteer hours.

The second and final phase will expand the park to add pump tracks, a wood skills circuit and more jumps.

On June 23, Jamie Myers and Francois Grenier with Bike Jasper requested funding from council.

Myers explained how bike parks “are community spaces that encourage physical activity, promote wellness and are gathering places for youth and young families,” adding how it also offers free, family-friendly activities for visitors.

“Let’s finish what we started and get this bike park done and give our community something to be excited and proud of,” he told council.

Following meetings between municipal staff, Bike Jasper and park builder Jay Hoots, stakeholders streamlined the project from two remaining phases to a focused, final phase. So far, Bike Jasper has secured $143,000 toward this phase.

“It’s impressive the amount of money that they’ve been able to raise and how they’ve stayed so steadfast in ensuring that Jasper has a bike park,” said Coun. Kathleen Waxer during the Aug. 25 committee of the whole meeting

Bike Jasper also applied for a provincial grant worth $125,000 but was unsuccessful. If the grant had been approved, the Municipality would have only provided $90,000 in cash and $10,000 of in-kind support.

Coun. Laurie Rodger asked why the application was unsuccessful.

Christopher Read, director of Community Development, replied that the Alberta government’s Community Facility Enhancement Program was always oversubscribed.

“Every community has ideas, and those community ideas are put forward,” Read said. “We were successful last year with the tennis project. It is not surprising that we would be not successful a year later. That is actually quite typical.”

The bike park will have an asset value of $518,000 once the project is complete, according to Read.

This funding is not included in the existing 2026 operating or capital budgets, meaning the project will be funded through debt.

Read warned delayed or partial funding will result in a further two-year delay and up to $200,000 more due to builder availability, remobilization and inflation.

“The bike club sees that the viability of the project really drops off a cliff if they are not successful in getting it done this one shot,” he said.

During the Aug. 25 meeting, Read noted the large number of residents and visitors who use the existing park and the associated increased sales for local businesses. Having a more robust and varied skills park in town also allows users to build skills more easily and safely before hitting the trails.

“Like the skatepark, the bike park is a safe space for children and youth especially to build not only skills but build community,” he said.

Peter Shokeir, Local Journalism Initiative // info@thejasperlocal.com