Dayton ‘Bike Yard’ starts to take shape

A rendering of the Bike Yard at Welcome Park. The city hopes to complete a children's bicycle playground this spring. CONTRIBUTED

A rendering of the Bike Yard at Welcome Park. The city hopes to complete a children's bicycle playground this spring. CONTRIBUTED

A proposed Dayton bike park that has been talked about for more than four years could make more headway this spring with the installation of a new bicycle playground.

The city of Dayton and its partners have made incremental progress to create the Bike Yard at Welcome Park, said Susan Vincent, a city of Dayton planner.

The Bike Yard will be an urban bike park that is integrated into the existing Welcome Park in the Carillon neighborhood that should offer a pump track, jump lines, single-track trails, flow trails and skills features, Vincent said.

The project has been discussed since at least 2016.

Several years ago, the city approved selling a decommissioned part of Welcome Park to Bonbright Distributors for $135,000.

The sale was to support the company’s future expansion plans while also providing funding to upgrade the park.

A rendering of the trails for the Bike Yard at Welcome Park. CONTRIBUTED

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Welcome Park will remain a neighborhood park with a park shelter, traditional playground, basketball courts and a community gathering area, Vincent said.

The city of Dayton Bike Yard project included updates to the park, like a new playground and renovated bathrooms and basketball courts, Vincent said.

The park upgrades have been completed, she said, and the city also added a multi-use perimeter trail in 2019.

The park will receive a new bicycle playground this spring, which will be paid for using grant funds and the proceeds of the sale of adjacent land to Bonbright, city staff said.

The multi-use perimeter trail at Welcome Park was completed in 2019. CORNELIUS FROLIK / STAFF

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The next proposed phase of work is construction of the pump track, but that, like the other planned bike features, will require additional fundraising, Vincent said.

The Bike Yard is supported by the neighborhood and the city’s partners, which include the Miami Valley Mountain Bike Association, she said.

The bike park would be a welcome addition and asset for the neighborhood, said Brock Anderson III, the chairman and CEO of Bonbright Distributors.

The park wasn’t heavily used after falling into disrepair, but already the new perimeter trail has proven to be quite popular and new bike features would be a significant draw, he said.

“I think that doing it in stages is better than nothing at all and each stage gets them closer to the overall vision they had,” he said. “It’s a slow trickle, but I think when all is said and done it is going to be fantastic.”

The City of Dayton is looking to turn Welcome Park into a a bike trail park. The park is located behind Welcome Stadium. TY GREENLEES / STAFF

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