- April 24, 2024
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The proposed BMX bicycle-racing track has been a rumor for several months. If all goes well, riders could be zooming around the dirt track in this summer.
The dirt is already being loaded onto two lots in Sam Cline’s Steel Rain Industrial Park. The contracts with the American Bicycle Association are being faxed. And the permits with the city of Bunnell are being processed.
All are in preparation for one thing: a BMX bicycle-racing track, on U.S. 1, in Bunnell.
According to promoter Renny Roker, construction on the track could begin in three to four weeks, with the track opening to the public by June 1. The track will be a replica of the 2012 Olympics track.
“This summer, we should be on fire,” Roker said Monday, April 18, with the ABA contracts in hand before he faxed them. “We will announce our first event, and it will be a fundraiser for the (Flagler County) Police Athletic League.”
Roker said all of the fundraisers at the track will benefit youth programs in the county.
But before riders can whip up dirt just behind the Austin Outdoor complex, the permits must be approved with the city of Bunnell.
“We’re in the process of finalizing the permitting for it,” said Mick Cuthbertson, director of community development for Bunnell. “I don’t see any obstacles in the way of that approval that will prevent it. I believe it will be permitted; we just have to finish up the process.”
Cline, who is president of S.E. Cline Construction, said the industrial park was built during the construction boom, and though a BMX track wouldn’t necessarily generate revenue for his construction company, it would “create activity in the park.” The park is located at the end of Otis Stone Hunter Road, about midway between Whiteview Lane and Royal Palms Parkway.
The track, which will be on nearly eight acres of land, won’t be the only attraction at the site, Roker said. Eventually, Roker said he’d like to occupy 25 acres, which would include the production of the reality TV show “Eight in the Gate,” a BMX museum featuring some of the original bikes and letters when BMX was introduced to the Olympics in 1984, and, eventually, a bicycle manufacturing plant.
“(The plant) could mean hiring about 40 to 50 jobs and then grow from there,” Roker said. He added the plant is “down the road, but not that far down the road.”
Roker also said he hopes there will be an afterschool homework-assistance program for the riders and some type of program with an area bank to help the kids save money for college.
“It’s not just about being a good BMX rider, but becoming a good student and also working toward whatever future it is they want as far as college goes,” he said.
— Brian McMillan contributed to this report.
