Its future looks bright, indeed
It’s a project three years in the making, but it finally seems to be gaining ground: Mylan Park will be welcoming the nation’s first fully accessible national-level BMX facility.
Originally slated for the lower park, the Mylan Park Action Sports & Bike Park Complex has been moved to the upper part, just past the aquatic center — which is part of the reason the BMX facility hasn’t moved beyond the design phase despite a groundbreaking ceremony in 2022.
It seems the action sports complex, now predicted to start construction next spring, will be worth the wait. As Ben Conley reported, the complex will include a USA BMX-sanctioned hard-surfaced track, Union Cycliste Internationale competition-level hard-surfaced pump track, hard-surfaced progressive bike jump/flow lines and a mountain bike skills trail loop. Due to its proximity to SteppingStones and PACE, designs for the facility have given extra consideration to accessibility, opening the possibility of holding Paralympics BMX activities.
We’re not always fond of the sprawling development out into the county that necessitates car travel through intersections and roads not equipped (yet) for the increasing traffic, but Mylan Park really is the ideal place for this facility. It offers additional recreation activities and is close enough to town that overnight visitors can easily commute between events at the park and accommodations in town. It also has plenty of space to build a dream facility, without being boxed in by other development.
Not to mention, the entire region will benefit immensely from the tourism brought in by competitions and tournaments (if nothing else, we’ll all benefit from the B&O and gas taxes). They’ll come for the BMX park and hopefully stay to experience what north-central West Virginia has to offer.
Considering construction won’t even start for another year, we hope the improvements to Interstate 79 Exit 155 and Chaplain Hill Road will at least be started, if not finished, by the time the facility opens for business. A shiny new state-of-the-art action park loses its luster when those who seek to use it have difficulty getting there. Maybe the economic draw of the BMX facility will inspire a sense of urgency to get those improvements done.
