Kids Offer ‘Cool Ideas’ For Pineville Bike Park
The proposed bike park in Pineville will have some really cool features, thanks to input from the kids who will use it most.
A group of Pineville children recently met with the president of a local design company to come up with a preliminary design for the bike park.
The project is a really fun project to head up for Progressive Bike Ramps president and owner John Hunter, who grew up in Noel and graduated from McDonald County High School.
“The company has developed skate and bike park projects in all 50 states and 38 different countries so projects close to our Joplin, Mo.,
headquarters are special,” he said.
When developing a project, staffers try to meet with and engage the user group. And that’s exactly what happened with a group of young bike enthusiasts.
Pineville staff coordinated the meeting with Hunter and the youth.
“The meeting went well and they were very enthusiastic about the development of a park in general,” Hunter said. “They had some good feedback about what they thought would be cool to include in their park,” he said.
“Like most young people in community meetings, they had a few really big ideas, like the kind of ideas that come from something they have seen on the X-Games,” he said. “At the end of the meeting, we had a conceptual park layout sketch that fit the site and incorporated the cool features that the kids picked out like ladder drops, rollovers and kicker ramps.”
The preliminary design has features for users of various ages and experience levels. A bicycle playground area can be used by kids on Strider bikes, who are just learning to ride. There’s also a skills course that can be used by older kids and adults.
Hunter also plans to include a concrete pumptrack that can be used by bike riders, skateboarders and those riding a scooter.
Pineville Mayor Gregg Sweeten said the user group has reviewed the preliminary design and hopes a bowl can be added.
Steps in the project include waiting for the final survey of the park area to ensure the design stays within the boundaries, Hunter said. Once that is complete, officials will offer a finalized design and construction schedule.
The Pineville City Council will have the final approval, Sweeten said.