APPLE VALLEY • As design plans finally come together for the BMX bike park some locals have sought for half a decade, one hurdle remains: money.
“We don’t have funding,” said Apple Valley’s Parks and Recreation manager Ralph Wright, with an anticipated price tag for the park and related upgrades of $600,000.
The town has to wait until September to hear back on an application seeking $1.5 million from a Proposition 84 grant for improvements at James Woody Park on Navajo Road, including the BMX area planned at the northwest end of the park.
“If this grant does not come through, our big question is, what is their alternative plan?” asked park proponent Josh Richling. “They haven’t answered that.”
That’s why Richling helped create the High Desert Freestyle BMX Fund through the High Desert Community Foundation alongside the infamous William “Crazy Lacy” Furmage.
“Next month will be five years since I started this cause which I am so passionate about,” Furmage said, with more than 100 council meeting appearances under his belt. “I find it sad they can keep dumping our tax dollars on an ailing country club, while our own BMX project is pushed back further.”
To read the full story, see Monday’s Daily Press. To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755, 1-800-553-2006 or click here.
Brooke Edwards may be reached at (760) 955-5358 or at bedwards@VVDailyPress.com.
Four ways to help:
- Buy a T-shirt — Proceeds from shirts by Riders Against Discrimination and FURM LIFE go to help build the bike park. The first shirt costs $20 and two or more are $15 each, with details available at MySpace.com/furmlife or by calling (760) 927-4655.
- Buy a custom LINQ Bicycles frame — Frames average $400, with a portion of the proceeds going to the bike park fund. Details are available at linqbmx.com.
- Donate to the grassroots fundraising effort — Send a check payable to High Desert Community Foundation with “BMX Fund” in the memo section to P.O. Box 2028 Apple Valley, CA 92307.
- Donate cash, materials or labor through the town — To give to the Apple Valley Community Resource Foundation, call Karen Kelly at (760) 240-7000 ext. 7074.
Source: vvdailypress.com/news/park-19835-apple-underway.html
