A Lantzville mountain bike park is still not ready for the public after nearly two years of delays.
Trudy Coates, director of corporate administration for the District of Lantzville, said the expected opening of the mountain bike park in Rotary Park is on hold because of the amount of wet weather Lantzville and Vancouver Island has received this winter.
“It needs sunshine before the work is completed,” she said.
In 2016, Lantzville approved construction of a $32,000 mountain bike park, which is located at the corner of Harby and Peterson roads. Once completed, will feature a bike circuit designed for all ages, a pump track, log rails and jump lines.
Hoots Inc., a North Vancouver-based company specializing in the construction of mountain bike parks, was awarded the contract to build the 2,000-square-metre park and district originally expected the park to open sometime in the summer of 2016. However, Hoots Inc., repeatedly delayed construction, citing poor weather conditions.
Construction on the park finally began last November and the district anticipated the park being open to the public by March, but that didn’t happen.
“It hasn’t worked out that way,” Coates said, adding that the district doesn’t know when the park will be ready for the public.
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Coates said the company told the district they still need to compact the ground at the park, but cannot do so unless there is at least a week of dry weather.
“They need at least one to two weeks of good weather so they can dry out the pump track,” she said. “After compaction is complete, the bike park will be open to the public.”
Ronald Campbell, the district’s chief administrative officer, said Hoots Inc., hasn’t been paid in full for the work, adding that the mountain park project is taking a ridiculously long time to complete.
“It’s frustrating,” he said. “We’re sure like to get it done.”
Calls to Hoots Inc. were not returned.
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