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$250k + 15 acres = Need plans for bike park

grom-dom

Turbo Monkey
Jun 27, 2006
1,140
0
Chapel Thrill
big dirt jumps. lots of them. and a nice skate park. indoors. designed for riding bikes. i think an indoor dirt jumping spot ie in a warehouse would be sick. some place in europe did it. tell him to buy a warehouse or something. i have plenty i can think of. for 250k also.
 

t1maglio

Monkey
Oct 29, 2001
855
0
southern wisconsin
FYI, a good sized, well built skatepark, outdoors will easily run you 250K. Dirt jumps are cheap and if the land is donated that could probably be factored in as well. Indoor park, probably not in the price range for that kind of money.
 

manimal

Ociffer Tackleberry
Feb 27, 2002
7,212
17
Blindly running into cactus
FYI, a good sized, well built skatepark, outdoors will easily run you 250K. Dirt jumps are cheap and if the land is donated that could probably be factored in as well. Indoor park, probably not in the price range for that kind of money.

really, local park here that doubles as a xcore show venue, cost the owner less than $40k to build including the inventory in his small skateshop. he does, however, build his own stuff.

i'm really interested in finding out about the bmx track angle. i think that would be the biggest revenue attainer. can you imagine all of the groms begging mom and dad to stay after the race/practice to hit up the park?
 

Zach Dank

Turbo Monkey
Jun 28, 2005
1,296
0
Gnarcal
For the right price, i will fly out and build you the sickest DJ's eva. Give me 10 days, a backhoe, and a small crew of hardcore dirt throwers. We will create DJ heaven.
 

t1maglio

Monkey
Oct 29, 2001
855
0
southern wisconsin
he does, however, build his own stuff.
Ya, you can build your own, but honestly when it comes to public parks I would trust the pros. The parks I have worked on to get built were done by a company called Trueride out of MN. They are really good, very detail oriented, and are down for custom jobs or they can design something for you.

I like the idea of having some real nice trails made and a good park. Work in a track and you could have bike heaven.
 

bent^biker

Turbo Monkey
Feb 22, 2006
1,958
0
pdx
as far as a track I would recomend a slalom track over a bmx track because they take a lot less dirt and room (so you could have more then one). be pretty sweet to have your own race series too.
 

manimal

Ociffer Tackleberry
Feb 27, 2002
7,212
17
Blindly running into cactus
as far as a track I would recomend a slalom track over a bmx track because they take a lot less dirt and room (so you could have more then one). be pretty sweet to have your own race series too.
why not both? the main reason for having the bmx track is the advertising and i'm pretty sure we could squeeze in a dual/4x course somewhere, the only problem is the lack of elevation change.
 

Cru Jones

Turbo Monkey
Sep 2, 2006
3,025
2
Hell Track
Sounds like a rad idea. I definitely think the bmx track is a good idea.
You should put in something like this. BTW, did they ever build this? It was supposed to be in Texas, right?

 

don

Turbo Monkey
Nov 8, 2001
1,319
0
Rumson, NJ
Sounds amazing and it sounds like you have covered most everything you could build there on your other post. Concession stands, place for the adults, multiple skill level areas.

Like others have said - hiring someone to built the dirt jump area would be worth it. Zach's stuff looks amazing and is on the board. I think Joe @ USB does skatepark design and helped a bunch w/ Ray's. The picture Cru posted is from a guy in Austin - he used to go by Wheelie Nelson on VintageBMX. Nate Wessel and Magilla are pretty well known in the BMX building world. Good dirt jumps can be ridden by any wheel size - it depends on the rider. These guys should be able to give you an idea on the price too.

I'd try to talk w/ as many parks and the owners - Ray's, Highland Park in NH. Santo's in FL I think is public but IMBA might have had something to do with it. There's a great public park in Stowe, VT - I might have a contact if you want.

For 250k - you might not be able to afford a building - a good park might run that much in itself - just like T1maglio said. And depending on zoning you might need a lot of extra stuff like bathrooms and specific parking space and stuff like that. What about a pavilion? I've been thinking that would work to keep the weather out and have a place for lights at night and block the sun during the day. The weather in NC seems like it would be good year 'round.

Keep us updated - sounds like it could be a very cool place.
 

Cru Jones

Turbo Monkey
Sep 2, 2006
3,025
2
Hell Track
I'd try to talk w/ as many parks and the owners - Ray's, Highland Park in NH. Santo's in FL I think is public but IMBA might have had something to do with it. There's a great public park in Stowe, VT - I might have a contact if you want.

For 250k - you might not be able to afford a building - a good park might run that much in itself - just like T1maglio said. And depending on zoning you might need a lot of extra stuff like bathrooms and specific parking space and stuff like that. What about a pavilion? I've been thinking that would work to keep the weather out and have a place for lights at night and block the sun during the day. The weather in NC seems like it would be good year 'round.
Agreed. Def contact as many similar places as possible. Actually, what you're talking about sounds a lot like The Compound in Perris, CA. It has 3 skate park areas (two of them pavillion covered), a foam pit, and dirt jumps. There is also a bmx track right next to it, but it's not exactly part of it. Here's a link to their website, but for some reason, it's not working right now...

www.dacompound.com

And their myspace...
www.myspace.com/bmx411
 

manimal

Ociffer Tackleberry
Feb 27, 2002
7,212
17
Blindly running into cactus
bring ZD out here manimal!

that place would blow up so fast.

plus he could come ride regency hahaha

hmm, only if he agreed to wear a rebel flag t-shirt the entire time ;)

i'll have an impromptu meeting w/ my partner and see if he's interested in continuing w/ the idea.

thanks for all the ideas/tips.

btw, his other idea was to open a family campground area or an RV park. i'm assuming either option would make just enough $$ for his purposes but the bike park would be much more fun and can you imagine how good lil manimal would get riding that place all the time :lighten:
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,225
20,003
Sleazattle
There was a local farmer who opened up his land for a pay to play business. 30 miles of awesome singletrack. He got tired of running the operation and a few friends and I were going to buy the trail business from him. It all fell apart at the last minute because of his family who all own equal shares of the land but I learned a lot in the process. The two biggest hurdles we had were that insurance is expensive and people get all pissy when you ask them to pay for trails. The second issue being the toughest one to overcome.
 

grom-dom

Turbo Monkey
Jun 27, 2006
1,140
0
Chapel Thrill
I'm from South Carolina. You think i have a problem with the Rebel Flag.:disgust1:
word....

come visit NC dude our trails scene is blowing up

















sorry for that semi thread jack manimal. bt those jumps are fun, something that size/a bit bigger would be super sick. and you've ridden those jumps
 

don

Turbo Monkey
Nov 8, 2001
1,319
0
Rumson, NJ
... The two biggest hurdles we had were that insurance is expensive and people get all pissy when you ask them to pay for trails. The second issue being the toughest one to overcome.
f'n "riders" really blow me away sometimes. I feel guitly riding someone trails if I haven't helped them dig - and that's with digging as much as I can at my own spot.

Paying to ride a dialed place is the better end of a deal if you ask me. I spend $60+ to go snowboarding and most of the time that's not as much as riding a real good set of trails. Ever price a day of golf at some places? Going to a pro football/baseball/hockey game? A 2 hour guided fishing trip? $20 to ride a place like Ray's for a day is silly cheap.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,225
20,003
Sleazattle
f'n "riders" really blow me away sometimes. I feel guitly riding someone trails if I haven't helped them dig - and that's with digging as much as I can at my own spot.

Paying to ride a dialed place is the better end of a deal if you ask me. I spend $60+ to go snowboarding and most of the time that's not as much as riding a real good set of trails. Ever price a day of golf at some places? Going to a pro football/baseball/hockey game? A 2 hour guided fishing trip? $20 to ride a place like Ray's for a day is silly cheap.

Just to clarify I was talking about regular old MTB trails and not jumps. People seemed to think that because they could ride at a county park for free they were never going to pay even if they got a better experience. There were a core group of riders that were not only willing to pay but to work but that wasn't enough people to make it profitable. We knew we wouldn't have been profitable, we just wanted to have our own set of trails to manage.
 

karmapolice

Chimp
Nov 3, 2007
60
0
Marietta, GA
if this happens I am deff down to do some work pf any type for free just need a place to stay up there and will have to come up when I am not in class.
 

don

Turbo Monkey
Nov 8, 2001
1,319
0
Rumson, NJ
Just to clarify I was talking about regular old MTB trails and not jumps. People seemed to think that because they could ride at a county park for free they were never going to pay even if they got a better experience. There were a core group of riders that were not only willing to pay but to work but that wasn't enough people to make it profitable. We knew we wouldn't have been profitable, we just wanted to have our own set of trails to manage.
I had a feeling you were talking about MTB trails - but even still - I don't think it's too out of line to have to pay to ride on mtb trails. I would think riders wouldn't mind paying for a "better experience".

I've heard about BMX and skates guys starting Co-Op situations for ramps. I wonder how that would work in a MTB / Dirtjump situtation. Like you said a core group that's willing to dig and work on the trails and pay for the experience. I myself would love to buy or lease a few acres and just build something amazing to ride - just like Manimal's wishlist.

And for Manimal and his son, if his friend does go the RV route maybe he could Co-Op and acre or 2 for a riding zone.
 

t1maglio

Monkey
Oct 29, 2001
855
0
southern wisconsin
One more thought on the park idea. A pavillion is extra cost, but is super nice for shelter from sun and rain. Also, lights, another local park is set up on a timer, but its great to be able to ride till 10 instead of whenever it gets dark. Just a couple extra things to consider.