Earlier this week, crews finished construction on the new 0.5-acre bike playground, which is located at the northeastern corner of the park, near existing playground equipment.
The playground has prefabricated cedar and steel roller corners, single rollers, a 180-degree turn and obstacles, Vincent said.
The playground has a looping dirt trail and bumpy mounds and also offers several obstacles that look like oversized orange traffic cones.
The playground cost about $36,000 and was paid for entirely with grant money and donated funds, Vincent said.
Donors include Bonbright Distributors, PeopleForBikes and Dayton Children’s Hospital.
“Without their support this project would not be possible,” Vincent said.
An official ribbon-cutting event for the park is expected to be held next month.
Welcome Park consists of about 10.5 acres and sits in the Carillon neighborhood, near Welcome Stadium.
The park’s playground, bathrooms and basketball courts have been upgraded, and a multi-use perimeter trail was completed in 2019.
But the city wants to transform most of the property into an urban mountain bike park featuring a pump track, jump lines, skills features, flow trails and single-track trails.
A conceptual site plan shows climbing, slope-style and rock-skills trails snaking through the park.
The city is finalizing a funding plan for the Bike Yard and expects to release more details about the projected cost, fundraising and next steps in the next month or so, city planners said.
Earlier this year, Brock Anderson III, the chairman and CEO of Bonbright Distributor, said the park would be a neighborhood asset.
He said the park was in rough shape and wasn’t heavily used but it is getting many new visitors since it was upgraded and received a new perimeter trail.
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