County presented with potential Carseland Bike Park

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Representatives from the Carseland and District Community Association presented before the Wheatland County Public Presentation Committee, during the May 14 meeting.

“We are a small but very active community with a youth sports program, a curling rink and an ice hockey rink, but due to the growing demographics and broad age ranges, we felt it prudent to expand the facilities and the program offerings within our community,” said Georgina Nichols, president of the Carseland and District Community Association. “We believe to encourage engagement with our neighbors and local businesses, we need to provide facilities and programs that will support their needs and bring us together.”

The Carseland and District Community Association proposed to the Public Presentation Committee the construction of a bike park and outdoor recreational space.

Ultimately, the goal is to develop the facility as a low-cost recreational solution able and available to be utilized by any age and skill demographic.

“Not only will this park be a blessing for younger kids, but having a facility that can entertain the teen to young adult demographic in a community is something that cannot be understated, and we are definitely missing in small towns,” said Kane Wiewel, who also spoke to the county on behalf of the Carseland and District Community Association. “Anyone who has lived in some of these small towns where there is a little less police presence knows that reckless driving is a big issue. A park like this will get kids off the street and riding their bikes in a more controlled and safe environment.”

As an added goal and intention of the project, Wiewel explained he hopes to see the Carseland community becoming more active and social with each other, as opposed to being isolated.

The project is also being proposed to be constructed out of dirt to both keep costs down both while establishing the facility and into long-term maintenance, as well as to increase versatility of creating the space.

“Dirt makes it easy to upgrade and alter individual features and the overall design as you go designing jumps and tracks. There is no written formula, so sometimes being able to adapt the dirt and change things is great,” said Wiewel. “A dirt-based bike park can easily be removed, levelled or rebuilt in a new location if the need for the space should change if unforeseen issues should arise and other more permanent facilities would need to be built.”

The aim of the Carseland and District Community Association is to bring a cost estimate for the project forward within 30 days of their presentation. They intend to also recruit as many volunteers as possible to aid in construction. 

The County Public Presentation Committee accepted the presentation as information following a discussion period. The full presentation is available publicly via the county’s meeting agenda, as well as on their YouTube channel.