Plans to build a BMX track in the Shuswap are continuing but focusing on a new location – Silver Creek.
Shelly Desautels and a subgroup of the Shuswap Cycling Club interested in BMX are working to get a track built at the Silver Creek Community Park.
Desautels, who has been spearheading the project, says so far the Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD) and the Silver Creek community have been very receptive to the plan.
A message from Desautels and others lobbying for the construction of the track, promises the venue in Silver Creek will provide kids with an opportunity to be active, bring in riders from other communities who will buy gas and groceries at the local store and provide an opportunity to host events at the community hall which will bring money into Silver Creek.
Desautels said a meeting with the CSRD Area D parks committee went very well. She said the parks committee think the track will be great for local kids and will complement a bike path which is planned for the area.
“We used to live in Vernon. We lived across the street from the BMX track so my son grew up riding on that,” Desautels said.
“It would have been nice to have something here to be closer to.”
The track will be constructed by volunteers and designed by BMX Canada engineers to make sure it conforms to their standards.
There is a $2,500 fee for the engineer’s assistance with building the track. Desautels and the cycling club will not be asking the CSRD for funding; she says they plan to fund the track through grants, corporate sponsorship and fundraising events.
Shuswap residents who are interested in BMX racing currently have to travel to Vernon, Kamloops or Kelowna.
Desautels said approximately 30 riders from Salmon Arm regularly make the trip to another city while another 300 people are members of a facebook group expressing interest in the track.
Now that she has presented her idea to the Area D parks committee, Desautels will also present to the CSRD board of directors.