San Rafael, CA – Novato’s Stafford Lake Bike Park, Marin’s first public bike park, is poised to receive $115,000 in new donations and sponsorships, bringing the park’s total donations to 70 percent of the project’s $1 million goal. The funding will be brought before the Marin County Board of Supervisors on March 31.
The Peter E. Haas Jr. Family Fund offered a $50,000 challenge grant for the bike park, and the Friends of Stafford Lake Bike Park – a nonprofit formed to support the Marin County Parks’ effort to build and maintain the bike park – stepped up and raised the $50,000 needed to secure the grant. In addition, the outdoor gear company CamelBak provided a $15,000 sponsorship, bringing the total of the recent donations to $115,000. If approved by the Board of Supervisors, the funds will be deposited into the Stafford Lake Bike Park Construction Fund.
Though bicycling has long been popular in Marin, it was only in 2010 when the concept for a County-run bike park picked up serious momentum. Since then, the nonprofit Friends group has helped raise more than $707,000 in donations and sponsorships.
“It’s not often that so many people dedicate both their time and their money to get something done,” said Marin County Parks Principal Landscape Architect Steve Petterle.
A number of local bike retailers and outdoor companies have provided sponsorships to the bike park in exchange for several promotional rights. CamelBak, for example, would be identified as a contributing sponsor on the bike park website and could conduct two single-day events over a two-year period at the park without fees.
The rest of the funds raised for the park were donations by foundations, community partners and individuals. Significant donors to the Friend’s matching $50,000 donation to the Peter E. Haas Jr. Family Fund’s grant include Julia Violich, Al Baumann, W. Bradley Electric, Brenda and John
Newcomb, Karen and Charles Neff, along with anonymous donors.
The 17-acre bike park will feature a single track loop trail, gravity-fed flow trails with jumps and berms, multiple pump tracks, north shore style elevated trails, a dual slalom course, and a kids learn-to-ride area. To date, about 65 percent of Phase I is completed. Progress has been made on the dual slalom, a progressive skills track, a perimeter trail, a maintenance trail, beginners and children’s pump tracks, and various park amenities.
The opening date is tentatively scheduled for mid-August. Follow the park’s progress at www.staffordlakebikepark.com.