Tumwater Update

Thursday the 12th I stopped at Tumwater City hall and had a nice conversation with Chuck Denney, Tumwater Parks and Recreation Director, about a bike park. Last year when Tumwater rewrote the long term parks and recreation plan they included a general plan for a combination BMX and skate park. Mr. Denney has visited the Dart dirt jumps on several occasions and had taken the initiative to find out if a general need for a bike park existed during the plan revision and included the ideal of a bike area into the skate park plans. He was exited that someone would take on the work of gathering data on potential users and bring riders together on forming a basic ideal of what the park needs and would look like. He indicated that out of the budget for the next couple of years that baseball, football, and soccer fields takes priority financially unless it can be shown that support is stronger for a bike and skate park. I'm hoping to use the CBC resources and cycling communities energy to show that support exist and to help find additional funding and professional design help. Tumwater has already chosen a site for a skate and bike park that oddly enough is where the Tumwater jumps were 10 years ago under the power lines across from Z St SE. Although the terrain is not right for wooded mountain bike use it will be great for a regional size Bike and skate park as it already has road front sidewalk improvements, room for a parking lot and access to water and sewage for building bathrooms. I have found other plots of land in Tumwater that are city owned that would make great short loop mountain bike trails and if support is shown the city is more than willing to listen.