Brick Township will celebrate the grand opening of its new bike and scooter park next week, a project that was spurred by requests from residents after the design of a new skate park on the opposite side of town precluded the use of bikes and scooters there.
The bike and scooter park already exists – it is at the location of the old skate park located within the Drum Point Sports Complex on Drum Point Road. But the equipment was considered old, and also needed to be upgraded for safety purposes. The township council unanimously voted in favor of awarding the $418,036 contract for the new facility to American Ramp Company, of Joplin, Mo. in the spring, and it was recently completed. The recent foul weather prevented Shorebeat from obtaining photographs of the facility in advance.
Mayor Lisa Crate said Tuesday night at a meeting of the township council that the park will open with a ceremony at 4 p.m. Monday, Oct. 2.
|
The park, officials said at the time the contract was awarded, will feature curved loops and other equipment designed to help specialized foot-powered bikes and scooters perform tricks and other acrobatics. When the township opened a new skate park across town at Bernie Cooke Memorial Park, its surface was specialized for skateboards only, leaving scooter and bike enthusiasts without access to the fresh, new facility.
“It was a request that came into us shortly after the skate park opened, and we wanted the opportunity to build a park all of our residents can enjoy with their bikes and scooters,” Crate said Tuesday.
Township Business Administrator Joanne Bergin described the new equipment as “a straight replacement of the type of material you need for bikes and scooters, which is different than skateboards.”