More than 250 people showed up for the much-anticipated grand opening of the Pemberton Bike Skills Park on Saturday, July 16, one of the biggest events hosted by the Village of Pemberton since the pandemic.
Proceedings got underway at 10 a.m. with a traditional territory welcome from Lil'wat Nation Councillor Alphonse Wallace and speeches by Pemberton Mayor Mike Richman and Pemberton Off Road Cycling Association president Ian Kruger.
Following the speeches, Richman and Kruger cut the ribbon and were immediately swarmed by a lineup of kids, patiently waiting to be among the first to ride the park.
Chromag Bikes was also on hand pumping some music, giving away prizes and raffling off a Monk dirt jumper, which the bike shop donated to the event.
The Pemberton FireSmart team also had a tent set up to educate community members on how to FireSmart their homes, as well as making sure everyone riding the park was sufficiently hydrated.
The skills park, located at Den Duyf Park, consists of various-sized dirt jumps as well as an asphalt pump track.
Last year, the Village of Pemberton announced it had secured $974,258 in funding through the Community Economic Resilience stream of the federal Community Economic Recovery Infrastructure Program for construction of the project.
