Hey guys, I've had a bit of a hiatus from the forums lately but I need your help with a project that the shop/indoor park that I work at has been working on.
The park I've been working at the for the past four years is called Incline Skate and BMX Park. We're in Sylvan Lake, Alberta, Canada about 15 minutes west of Red Deer. In the last four years since we opened we've seen the local BMX community grow at an insane rate. When we started selling bikes out of our shop there was a massive explosion of kids that started riding. When I first started BMXing about 8 or 9 years ago there was only about 6 of us that rode, now in the summer if you just walk a couple blocks you will see kids on BMX bikes everywhere. We are and always have been a core BMX shop here for the local scene.
The reason we exist goes deeper than this however. We are open late seven days a week for the youth of our town. We are here for the kids, to give them something to do that is a viable option other than drugs, drinking and sex. We are here because we care about people and we want to give our youth healthy options for their futures. I have been privileged to be involved with Incline since it's infancy. In the last four years I have gone from some annoying loud kid who came in to sweep because he wanted ramps to ride to assistant manager and teaching middle school kids about healthy life choices and how they have worth. In the time that I have been involved with Incline I have seen countless lives changed. People coming to us from things between fights with their friends to getting help (and sent to rehab) for serious drug addiction.
The park has never made any money. If you have been around BMX for long enough you will have no doubt seen many indoor parks come and go. In Alberta in the last few years quite a few parks have come and gone. Skate parks are money pits and right now we are the only remaining bike friendly park in Alberta that is open seven days a week. The reason we have a store front selling bikes and a few skate boards is solely to keep the park open. Long story short however, parks are not cheap to run and we need your help.
A short time ago we applied for a grant from Pepsi call the 'Pepsi Refresh Project'. Essentially people submit their ideas and if selected they then make it into the voting stage where you guys get to vote on which idea you would like to receive the grant they're running for. We're running for the $100,000 grant.
We have the space to expand and it's due time to do it. With this money we will be remodeling the building we are currently in. This entails a total (much needed) rebuild of the skate park which will be much better designed than it currently is. We will also be expanding to include a restaurant and a lounge area and a new store front. As well, the new park is being designed by myself (a BMXer) and a skate boarder so it will be a well balanced, well designed park.
If you are interested please, vote. It takes about 30 seconds to make a profile on the Pepsi site and you can vote once a day every day until voting is up. The website is here:
http://www.refresheverything.ca/inclinePlease feel free to set that as your browsers home page. Having this expansion and remodeling done will be an amazing asset for not only the BMX and skate community but it will also wildly benefit the youth of Sylvan Lake.
If you would like to do more to help we are also accepting donations. If you are interested in that, or have any other questions about who we are and what we do please feel free to contact me at:
jeff@inclineindustries.caAlso, look for us in the United Great White North Tour video. We were the first stop and in the P/A catalog that's my car with the severed hand sticking out of the trunk.
Thanks for your time guys! And support your local bike shop!
