It was announced last week that the Kiwanis Club in Swift Current is supporting the development of a new bike park.

Jim Jones, General Manager of Community Services for the city says the project is a collaboration between a lot of people. Jones initially met with Elden Moberg, Youth Services Committee Co-Chair of the Swift Current Kiwanis Club about developing a new park and the Kiwanis were very excited about the idea and what turned from a one-year to a two-year agreement to help with developing the park. 

Jones details how the bike park concept came to be.

"We were painting on some of the outdoor rinks every year, bike safety requirements for the RCMP and then we would have to repaint it every year. It was just something where we thought if we had our own type of a park that would be designed so that kids could practice riding their bikes on streets or parks or roads in a safe place it would benefit the whole community."

Moberg details that they went to the city with a blank slate but wanted to do something to benefit the people of Swift Current and that the city had in mind already or at least thought would be a benefit. 

Moberg provides details on the importance of the park project. 

"We were looking at something in relation to a legacy project because in 2021 it's our 100th year as a club in Swift Current. We were looking at a fairly major project, something that we could obviously tie the Kiwanis name to and something that would be needed."

Moberg adds that the project helps out the youth of the community by giving them something that we didn't really have to this extent in the city, and that is the objective of the Kiwanis to promote youth and provide them with opportunities.

From an economic standpoint, Jones says they are able to do the project economically with the support of the Kiwanis Club and partnerships with light and power who put power lines underground and the city's engineering department who put the concept design on the park on paper. 

In regards to the design of the park, Jones says he believes it will be the first of its kind in Western Canada as the park itself will be designed in the shape of a bike. 

On behalf of the Kiwanis Club, Moberg says he could not have been more pleased with the support they received from the Community Services department and he is excited to see the project get started. 

The Bike Park is being developed along 13th Avenue Northeast across the street from Riverdene Park and should be completed next year