A platinum level bike park could be coming to Cundiff Park, but right now it’s just a tantalizing idea to the biking community.
Designers from Alpine Bike Parks came to town recently to evaluate Chapman Hill as a bike park site and saw far more potential in Cundiff Park to attract cyclists of all levels. Cundiff Park is adjacent to the Animas River, just north of the Durango Mall, and is currently home to the BMX racetrack.
The designers left the Parks and Recreation Department with conceptual plans for three bike parks at Chapman, Cundiff and Schneider, as part of a $26,000 contract with the city.
The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board tried to narrow down ideas that would be the most beneficial for the whole community Wednesday night.
The earliest money could be designated for any construction would be next year, and it likely would be phased in over time, said Cathy Metz, director of parks and recreation.
All the new plans for the 17-acre Cundiff Park including landscaping, bathrooms, parking could cost about $2.2 million. All trails would be built to the east of the Animas River Trail, leaving the area along the river untouched.
Biking advocates from the Fort Lewis Cycling Team, DEVO and the BMX community all approved of the plan to build trails that would appeal to many skill levels at Cundiff, while leaving the existing BMX race track intact.
The plans for steep downhill trails at Chapman Hill were criticized for only appealing to a certain group.
“We need flat ground for DEVO,” said Amy Haggart, executive director of the group. About 900 kids bike with DEVO, and they need more entry-level and challenging trails to practice.
“Every trail head there is, we utilize every day,” she said.
A plan to build a concrete pumptrack, a banked loop, at Schneider Park did not garner much support because the appeal would not be broad enough.
Conversely, the BMX track at Cundiff already draws cyclists of all levels from the river trail, said Field Blevins, president of the Durango BMX board of directors.
“If we were able to use it, it’s just so natural,” he said.
The trails at Chapman had been proposed to fill a demand in the community for challenging trails like those that have been built in Horse Gulch. Completely abandoning those plans gave some board members pause.
The board asked Metz to seek more input from the general public and neighbors before moving away from plans for Cundiff to be a more traditional park.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
