Bringing a vision to life
Imagine colorful fields of wildflowers bordered by rolling hills and light gently glinting off a flowing river.
Now add in the thrill of tires spinning along a flowy singletrack trail, bagging a quail or cheering as racers and their mounts vault over an obstacle.
Put those together and you have the vision Stan Bouckaert has for Kingston Downs.
He and his wife Marie came up with the plan for their family’s property while backpacking across the globe as newlyweds in 2017. Stan’s family had been in the flooring industry for some time and had partnered with the Atlanta Steeplechase to purchase the property.
Once that venture folded a few years ago, the 5,000 acres of property off U.S. 411 near the border of Floyd and Bartow wasn’t being used for much, he said. So he and his new business partner put together a plan.
Stan would use his experience and education for the business and development side of the venture. Marie would handle marketing the business and design.
They both had a love for the scenic rolling hills Kingston Downs is noted for and, well, he wanted to be able to monetize doing the things he loves.
This is where mountain biking comes in to what might otherwise be thought of an just an event venue.
“I thought a good trail would be an anchor for attracting people to the property,” he said. He did some footwork and after several things didn’t pan out he decided to take a trail building class and go it on his own.
After cutting in about a mile of trails on the property he connected with a representative of the Georgia Interscholastic Cycling League. The group is part of a national push, to put it simply, that aims to “get more kids on bikes.” Every year the group hosts mountain bike races across the state which can bring upwards of 800 riders to a single event.
They formed a partnership and brought in a company called Flowmotion Trail Builders build over 5 miles of purpose-built trails on the property between the horse track and U.S. 411. Also because of that partnership the venue will be hosting a youth mountain bike race on Sept. 26 and 27.
The middle and high school races which usually feature large packs young skinny racers vying to get a spot on the podium has switched formats this year to a time trial. Each team will race together for the best time but teams won’t intermingle in an attempt to curtail any possible spread of the novel coronavirus.
But riding bikes isn’t just the focus at Kingston Downs. Far from it.
Stan brought in Junior Dobson to formalize what had already been an informal hunting club.
“We’ve been able to grow the hunt club significantly in the past two years,” he said.
On top of setting up a five stand skeet shooting range the hunt club offers guided quail hunts as well as dove and pheasant shoots and guided turkey hunts.
Going forward, Stan said he’s hoping to bring back larger scale events Kingston Downs is already known for. At this point, the Georgia Steeplechase is still on for Oct. 24 and he said he’d like to bring back larger events like the Counterpoint Music Festival as well.
But for right now, they’re focusing on making an exclusive and hospitable venue. The property would lend itself to an art market or farmer’s market or even an organic farm at some point.
They’re renovating a large open air hilltop pavilion that overlooks the Etowah River as well as building three cozy cottages which back up to 29 acres of wildflowers.
That’s 29 acres of wildflowers the couple planted themselves.
“They were soybean fields,” he said looking out at the fields which also contain bee hives. “(Marie) said why don’t we plant wildflowers.”
So they did, and it’s almost a metaphor for their business model. “My goal is to not ever try to develop the property in the traditional sense,” Stan said.
Bringing in others to appreciate and enjoy the natural beauty of the area remains the focus.