May 2017 - Parks & Recreation - 27

Bentonville team to a concept that it currently had in design:
a playground for children on bicycles. The playground would
include a starting line, ramps, bridges, tunnels and a centralized
finish line. " Our team had worked on this for some time, but we
were not sure exactly where to introduce the concept, " Hunter
adds. " When we learned Bentonville was searching for something like this and actually had a location established for it, we
were ecstatic! "
The Bentonville Parks and Recreation board unanimously
approved the concept, and the city council and local cycling
enthusiasts also supported the idea; however, reality hit during
discussions with the municipal department. The 2016 budget
year did not include funding for the project. " Our plan was to
include it in the 2017 capital plan, but, lucky for us, our community had a different idea, " says Terlouw.
In November 2016, Bentonville hosted the annual International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) World Summit. Two
local organizations, Visit Bentonville and the Walton Family
Foundation, worked with IMBA to host this event. When word
of the new facility reached Visit Bentonville's CEO, Kalene
Griffith, she expressed her desire to have the bike playground
in place before the event. " Visit Bentonville knew this facility
was being built for the residents of our community and Northwest Arkansas, " Griffith explains, " but this [was] something we
wanted to show cyclists from around the world. We loved this
idea that Bentonville would be the first city in our country to
have one of these fantastic amenities. " It was decided that Visit
Bentonville and the Walton Family Foundation would provide
grants to Bentonville Parks and Recreation to build the facility,
with the stipulation that construction would be completed prior
to the IMBA World Summit.
Progressive Bike Ramps and Bentonville Parks and Recreation immediately went to work on finalizing plans and getting
construction underway. While Progressive Bike Ramps built the
bicycle playground, Bentonville Parks and Recreation added
amenities such as trees, landscaping, picnic tables and benches.
" The desire [was] to have a location where parents have a comfortable place to watch their children on the new playground, "
says Terlouw. " We asked our team to provide the soft infrastructure amenities that would complete this new amenity. " As a result, the department planted 40 5- to 6-foot-tall caliper trees to
provide shade for and add color to the park.
The new bicycle playground opened November 5, 2016, one
week prior to the IMBA World Summit. Approximately 250 citizens attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony. " Our community
loves it! " says Terlouw. " The way this project came together was
just amazing. " As Bentonville Parks and Recreation celebrates
a successful project, the real celebration comes in the form of

people using the new facility. An unusually warm winter resulted in a very high usage rate during a time of year when most
people choose to be indoors, " Terlouw adds. " We will see if this
trend continues, but since this opened, it has certainly been our
most popular playground. "
David Wright is the Director of Bentonville Parks and Recreation (dwright@
bentonvillear.com).

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