What you can do.
Whether you are a community member advocating for a bicycle playground, or a Parks and Recreational professional interested in developing one of these facilities, there are a few simple steps you can follow to help make your idea a reality.
Community Member Steps:
1. Familiarize yourself with bicycle playgrounds. If you are able to visit one of these facilities in person you will be amazed at how beneficial they are for the community – witnessing these parks in person will reaffirm your idea to bring one to your community. If you can’t visit one in person, don’t worry – we have plenty of examples online you can check out!
2. Reach out to your parks and recreation department and inquire if they are familiar with these types of facilities and if there is any plan to develop one. If they are familiar and there are plans, great – let them know you are in support of the project and happy to help advocate. If they are unfamiliar, send them some information and encourage them to research these facilities.
3. If possible, form a group of community members who are in favor of developing a bicycle playground in your town. Social media can be a powerful tool to help organize your group for this cause.
4. Once you have a group of supporters, begin reaching out to you local representatives. Depending on how big your town is, you might have a parks and recreation commission in addition to your city council. The purpose of these commissions and councils is to listen to constituents and advocate for their wants and needs. We recommend you start emailing and calling these representatives and letting them know you would like to see a facility like this developed.
5. If your emails and calls are going unanswered, you can attend these meetings in person and give public comments requesting these amenities. If you can get a group to attend and you each give comments, you are more likely to have your voice heard. You might have to attend a few times, but don’t give up! It’s true what they say, “the squeaky wheel gets the oil”.
6. Hopefully by this point your city is on board with the idea and has instructed the parks and recreation department to incorporate a bicycle playground into the parks plan. However, if your city is still hesitant about the idea, consider organizing fundraisers to show the city you are willing to contribute funds toward the facility. Continue to advocate for a bicycle playground until you are successful.
7. If your city has officially expressed interest in the facility and the parks department is looking into options, congratulations! At this stage, we recommend the city connect with American Ramp Company to better understand size and budget requirements for a bicycle playground.
Parks and Recreation Department Steps:
1. Consider a few different locations that would accommodate a bicycle playground. We recommend looking at parks that have existing infrastructure such as parking, restrooms, water fountains, etc. These supporting amenities will help ensure the bicycle playground is easily accessible for users.
2. Reach out to American Ramp Company and request a discovery call with one of our development specialist. Our team will be able to look at the potential locations you have identified and recommend which location is best. During this call, our team will share examples from other communities, help you understand how much space will be required, and provide cost estimates for these types of facilities.
3. Once a location is approved, we recommend contracting with our team to develop a custom design and quote for your park. During this process, our team will meet with the city and can provide community engagement to get feedback from your users. Once we have all the information we need, we can get to work on a bicycle playground that is completely custom and unique to your community. At the completion of the design phase, you will receive 3D renderings of your bicycle playground, and turnkey quote for our team to construct the facility.
4. If the city does not have the funding available to move forward with the project, we recommend looking into local, state, and federal grand opportunities. Luckily, with your custom design and quote already complete, you will have a shovel ready project that grant organizations will be eager to fund. Our team can provide information on available grants based on your location.
5. If the city has funding available for this project, you are ready to hit the ground running! All that’s left to do is contract with American Ramp Company (either directly, or through the purchasing cooperative Sourcewell) and let us handle the rest. Within a matter of months, your community will be enjoying their very own bicycle playground.