State funds expected to help pay for pump track, dog park

By Morgan Rothborne, Ashland.news 

Ashland Parks and Recreation has been awarded a $1 million grant to ensure the creation of East Main Park with a pump track for bikes and a dog park. Other features may be in play for the city’s first new park in years, but final costs and designs are still underway, said Ashland Parks and Recreation Director Rocky Houston. 

“It’s going to be a great addition to the south portion of the city, we’re really looking forward to increasing the walkability and services on that side of town,” he said. 

The park will be comparable in size to Hunter Park, or roughly 6.5 acres, with a total estimated project cost of $2 million, said Houston. The park was already in design and awaiting the potential grant award when the new director took over. 

In these inherited plans the park was envisioned as a “phase one” and “phase two” project, he said. The grant funds —  with additional funding support from Rogue Valley Mountain Bike Association and the Ashland Parks Foundation — will create the phase one design of a park with restrooms, a parking lot, a pump track and skills area for bikes and a dog park. 

Phase two designs now include community garden space, a walking trail through a meadow area, and a natural playground with wooden structures and an artificial creek. Once designs for these elements are completed they can go out for cost estimates and bids. 

“Which will help inform us on what we can do. … Once we know how much it will cost to do one or all of the elements, then we make a policy decision,” Houston said. 

The origin of the new park is in grassroots support for the pump track stretching back years, said Ryan Hawk, president of the Rogue Valley Mountain Bike Association. 

The watershed around Ashland is steep, creating few opportunities for easier trails where children or beginners can learn the skills necessary to enjoy the sport. Many of the trails are also on Forest Service land where a forestry management plan precludes creating any new trails without decommissioning existing trails. 

In around 2017 or 18, members of RVMBA approached then-APRC Director Michael Black about creating a park with a pump track to fill the void. 

The pump track is smaller than a typical sports field but offers a similar social element for parents gathered to support and help their children as they learn or ride the track for fun alongside them. The trick to the track is learning how to create and keep momentum. 

“It’s all about trying not to peddle. … you kind of push your body into the bike to get the momentum that’s going to carry you through,” he said. 

Creating momentum for the park stalled a little when RVMBA first began asking for the recreation facility, Hawk said. The association asked its members and any other local riders in support to converge on an APRC meeting to show the depth of public want for the track. Around 100 to 120 people came to the meeting and Ashland Parks made the creation of the park one of their top priorities for that biennium, Hawk said. 

The pandemic intervened, then the location of an appropriate site took time. The current location required an annexation of some land from Jackson County which was recently approved by Ashland City Council. 

Costs for the track have risen since the park was first envisioned years ago, he said. Hawk envisioned RVMBA will hold bike raffles and other forms of local fundraising combined with seeking additional grant funding to support both the creation of the park and its maintenance. 

“This park is the process working. We’re really excited to have a parks department that listened to the desires of the community. It’s been a slog but we’re going to build this thing,” he said. 

“It’s been a moment,” since APRC has opened a new park and while there is excitement it will also be a moment before visitors can enjoy the new amenities, Houston said. Now that the grant has been awarded, funding agreements have to be completed, the project will go out for bid and with luck a contractor will be selected in time for the spring to fall window for construction labor. If the process takes too long, construction may begin in 2026. 

Decisions about phase two of the park are expected to be considered in the near future. Designs are at 90% completion now, Houston said. 

Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at [email protected].