<\/p>\n
There may be no better endorsement for a new pump track than having to tell a bunch of kids to stop riding it before it officially opens. That\u2019s more or less what\u2019s happening in Ayr, Ont., where construction on a new $568,000 Velosolutions pump track is essentially complete. For the past couple of weeks, the construction fence has remained around the site, but with an opening at one end and nobody actively kicking riders out, kids have been pouring in.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery night there\u2019s 25 or 30 kids there for the last two weeks riding it,\u201d says project organizer Jerrett Bellamy.<\/p>\n
But here\u2019s the cruel part. The track closed on Sept. 22 while crews put down more grass and hydroseed. The town is asking riders to stay outside the construction fence for long enough for the grass to take root.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last couple weeks have been great that we\u2019ve all enjoyed early access and no one was kicked out by bylaw officers so let\u2019s be respectful and stay out so we can get back on the track ASAP,\u201d organizers posted on Instagram.<\/p>\n
Imagine building a brand-new pump track, letting a bunch of kids discover it and then telling them they can\u2019t ride it.<\/p>\n
Cruel. Necessary, apparently, but cruel.<\/p>\n
\n<\/blockquote>\nYears in the making<\/h2>\n
For Bellamy, seeing the track covered in kids is the payoff to a project that stretches back years.<\/p>\n
His wife grew up in Ayr and the couple bought a house there in 2011. Bellamy first turned his attention to building a local skatepark in 2015. That roughly $730,000 project opened in 2020 after a major community fundraising effort.<\/p>\n
Before the skatepark was even finished, Bellamy was already thinking about what should come next.<\/p>\n
He first took the pump track idea to North Dumfries council near the end of 2019. The timing lined up with the township\u2019s leisure services master plan, which eventually identified a pump track as something the community wanted.<\/p>\n
Bellamy\u2019s motivation wasn\u2019t particularly complicated.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I\u2019m gonna live here, I\u2019m gonna try to make it cool,\u201d he says, laughing. \u201cSomewhat selfishly, but also, I wanted to bring more options to the community and for my kids\u2019 experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
The location helps. The new track sits in a central community park close to Ayr\u2019s more densely populated neighbourhoods and backs onto an elementary school, making it easy for kids to get to.<\/p>\n
Raising half a million dollars<\/h2>\n
Getting it built was another matter. The project was budgeted at roughly $568,000, with Bellamy and his fundraising team tasked with finding about $500,000 of that themselves.<\/p>\n
And they did.<\/p>\n
Bellamy says $200,000 came through the Ontario Trillium Foundation, another $100,000 came from a major fund and McNeil & Dodd Pharmacy contributed $75,000. The group also sold nearly 50 custom engraved pavers at $250 each, chased grants and went looking for smaller donations wherever it could find them.<\/p>\n
The fundraising effort took roughly three years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re starting this and I\u2019m seeing it through. I\u2019m not stopping,\u201d Bellamy recalls.<\/p>\n
He spearheaded most of the project with help from his mother-in-law, who handled much of the financial side, along with a small committee.<\/p>\n
Bellamy\u2019s estimate of what it took?<\/p>\n
\u201cI basically just ran with everything and sent 14,000 emails trying to get money out of people.\u201d<\/p>\n