Treasure Valley cycling enthusiasts will celebrate the official groundbreaking of the Idaho Velodrome & Cycling Park at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Eagle Sports Complex on Old Horseshoe Bend Road, just north of Floating Feather Road. The public is invited to attend.
Here's what The Idaho Velodrome & Cycling Park Association has accomplished in the past two and a half years:
Considered several sites. Selected a 20-acre section of the 80-acre Eagle Sports Complex on Old Horseshoe Bend Road, just north of Floating Feather Road. The park is on land the city of Eagle leases from Ada County. A skate park is there already; ballfields are planned at the site.
Mapped out the cycling tracks at the park and the trails that will link it to the Ridge-to-Rivers system. Commissioned artist's rendering of velodrome.
Created a Web site and promotional products, including hats, T-shirts and water bottles.
Negotiated contracts with the city of Eagle and Ada County.
Began fundraising. Now have raised more than $500,000 of in-kind and cash donations, including $100,000 in cash.
For years, a group of local cycling enthusiasts have had a blue-sky idea to build a multiuse cycling park with an array of tracks, trails and other attractions.
The park was envisioned as an outdoor recreation hub for Treasure Valley families and competitive cyclists, some of whom would compete on a steeply-banked oval-shaped track known as a velodrome.
A few of those dreamers have been working diligently for the past 2 years to bring the park to life.
At 5 p.m. on Tuesday, they will celebrate the official groundbreaking for Idaho Velodrome & Cycling Park. They hope to finish the first phase of the park by June.
Tuesday's ceremony will be at the Eagle Sports Complex, which is on Old Horseshoe Bend Road, just north of Floating Feather Road.
"It's (Eagle Mayor) Nancy Merrill's last day in office. This has been her pet project," said Dave Beck, president of the Idaho Velodrome & Cycling Park Association. "As a gesture to her, we wanted to have this while she was still there. We think this is going to be one of her biggest accomplishments."
Beck said the Eagle City Council has been very supportive of the 20-acre, $4.5 million cycling park project.
The money to build the velodrome and tracks will be raised by the cycling association, while the city of Eagle has pledged $1 million to provide water, sewer and parking at the site.
The City Council set aside parks money for the project over a two-year period, said Eagle City Councilman Steve Guerber. He is the council liaison for the cycling park project.
Guerber said there's no financial risk for the city in partnering on the project because the water, sewer and parking infrastructure is needed to develop new recreational uses at the 80-acre Eagle Sports Complex.
"The interest is there," Guerber said. "I think there's a very good chance we'll see it happen."
Douglas Tobin, coach of the BYRDS youth cycling club, is handling marketing for the cycling park. He's taken a one-year leave of absence from his job as a financial analyst at Hewlett-Packard to focus on the project.
Tobin said the first phase of the project will cost $1.5 million. It will include four-cross and dual slalom tracks, a free-ride skills park, velodrome, water, sewer and landscaping.
The second phase will cost $3 to $3.5 million. A 12,000-square-foot facility and grandstands will be built in that phase. The building will house concessionaires, locker rooms, meeting rooms and a training area.
The park will be free to the public. It will feature after-school and educational programs for kids.
"You'll never have another facility on the planet like this," Tobin said. "The terrain, the number of disciplines, the linkage to over 100 miles of existing trails. What other community has this?"
Katy Moeller: 377-6413
