Pineville Bike Park Quickly Taking Shape

Photo submitted City officials held a ground breaking ceremony for the new bike park on May 10, which will be located off Big Sugar Creek Road in Pineville. Despite spring rains, crew members are working diligently on the bike park. A grand opening date will be coordinated with city officials, according to Progressive Bike Ramps, the company designing and building the bike park.
Photo submitted City officials held a ground breaking ceremony for the new bike park on May 10, which will be located off Big Sugar Creek Road in Pineville. Despite spring rains, crew members are working diligently on the bike park. A grand opening date will be coordinated with city officials, according to Progressive Bike Ramps, the company designing and building the bike park.

This summer, youngsters in Pineville will be able to have all kinds of fun at a new bike park.

The new amenity, which is under construction off Big Sugar Creek Road, is quickly taking shape, said John Hunter, president/owner of Progressive Bike Ramps in Joplin, the company designing and building the bike park.

Crew members have been working around the spring rains and are pouring flat work in the pump track area as well as some concrete pads for benches.

Hunter was on site on Wednesday to mark final locations for the features, which will be installed late this week and next.

"The majority of the bike park will be complete by the end of next week," he said. "There will still be things like benches and signage to complete after that."

All of the features that were identified in the design meeting with local youth made it into the final design and will be included in the park, Hunter said.

"There will be a bicycle playground area that is targeted towards younger kids, including kids on Strider bikes. That area will include some smaller features and tunnels," Hunter said.

The park also will include a skills loop for older kids and more experienced riders.

The concrete pump track was designed in a way that it can be used by bikers, skaters and kids on scooters, he added.

A grand opening date will be coordinated with the city, he said.

Hunter gathered input about the bike park's features in a meeting held earlier this year. Pineville officials coordinated a meeting with several youngsters and Hunter. The kids provided input about the type of features they'd like to see.

By the meeting's conclusion, the conceptual park sketch incorporated the "cool" features the kids wanted like ladder drops, rollovers and kicker ramps.

Hunter has said the project is a special one for him.

The company has developed skate and bike park projects in all 50 states and 38 different countries. This one is special because it's so close to home. Hunter grew up in Noel and is a graduate of McDonald County High School.

General News on 06/15/2017