PARK UPDATE

What’s Already Been Done

A ton of big steps are already completed on the road to a new bike park. Our zoning has been approved (which is huge!), the building has been cleaned and painted and the materials we saved from The Wheel Mill have been moved into the new park. We’ve also been building test ramps while finalizing and dry fitting our designs. Our sound system, WiFi, phone and security system have been fully installed. We even had to wait over a month for the water company to shut off the water so we could fix a valve in the street, but that’s finally behind us. And best of all, we’ve officially opened Pittsburgh’s only BMX shop! Check it out at Woodsroombikeshop.com.

What’s Been Going On

We’ve been going through it over here. While working on this project, we’ve had two blown ACLs and a broken ankle—though there has been some good news: one team member has a baby on the way! On the bike park side, we’ve spent the last three months in constant back-and-forth with architects, engineers and the city as we work through the challenge of reclassifying a 50,000-square-foot building.

Where Things Stand with the Bike Park

Bike parks aren’t a standard development type, so the city matched us to the closest category-currently a gym. The problem is that gym regulations don’t translate well to a bike park, and we were told we’d need things like 13 bathroom stalls, 10 sinks, and two water-fountain stations. That would take up far more space than makes sense based on other parks and our design.

How We Tried to Fix It

We requested a pre-permit meeting to talk through these issues. After waiting over 10 weeks, the meeting finally happened but every request we made was denied and we were told we’d need fire sprinklers under all the ramps. This stopped everything and wasn’t feasible for our budget, so we appealed the decision. Thankfully, after another 4 weeks of work the board agreed we didn’t need sprinklers under the ramps, though they did require us to upgrade to a more robust overhead system.

Where We Are Now

Now we’re getting our current sprinkler system inspected and redesigned, which means more delays. In the meantime, we’re busy building test ramps, fine-tuning the layout so we’ll be ready the second we get the green light. It may be extra work, but we’re genuinely excited to finally know exactly what’s expected of us and now we can roll up our sleeves and make it happen so we can open.

How to Support

If you want to help keep this project moving, there are a few easy ways to support us.

Stop by our new bike shop! We’re open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4–7pm and Saturdays from 11–5pm. You can always shop online at LINK.

*Hours may change in the new year. Please follow our social media for updates: @woodsroombikepark.