Dirt World Donor Information Fall-Winter 2017-2108 The Project Dirt World is a 2.1-acre city bike skills park under development in the heart of Richmond, California. The site, which spans three city blocks between 20th and 23rd Streets is located close to the Richmond BART station and the 580 and 80 freeways. The acreage was, for many years, home to a spur of the Santa Fe railroad; when the tracks were eventually pulled out the site turned into an illegal dumping ground. Building a bike park is a step toward transforming Richmond into a healthier, more vibrant place. It’s about introducing young people to a challenging outdoor activity. It’s about creating creating new recreational opportunities in a town with a dire shortage of park space and building a sense of community. And, of course, it’s about riding bikes and having hella fun. The park design includes a variety of features that will appeal to BMX and mountain bike riders of all skill levels: pump tracks, a mini BMX track, dirt jumps, and a mountain bike skills loop. Status Update We’re sprinting towards a February 1st, 2018 groundbreaking! To prepare for construction we are in the process of raising $10,000 to cover the costs of renting heavy earth-moving equipment and paying skilled equipment operators. We’ve already raised more than $10,000 from community members, Title Nine sports apparel, and a small grant from the City of Richmond. Our goal with this final push is to ensure that we have the funding to develop the entire 2.1-acre tract this February. Many generous supporters have donated the use of their loaders and dozers. But we still need funds for diesel, to rent a few key pieces of equipment and to pay our equipment operators. Detailed budget information is available upon request. After a roughly three-week building period, Dirt World should be ready for riding — providing that conditions are dry. Origin Story Dirt World is the brainchild of Richmond residents Jasmin Malabed and Dennis “D2” Hoskins, founders of the Dope Sauce Bike Club, a grassroots program that introduces city kids to cycling of all varieties. In late 2015 Malabed and Hoskins helped lead the construction of a public pump track at Richmond’s John F. Kennedy Park, an undulating dirt oval that has proven to be a magnet for both local kids and riders from other cities. The pump track project was supported by the Trust for Public Land (which was directing a major make-over of the park), Rich City Rides (a nonprofit org dedicated to improving Richmond’s physical and economic health through cycling), Action Sports Construction (which lent its track-building expertise) and many others, including volunteers from the neighborhood. With the success of the pump track, Malabed and Hoskins began thinking bigger, deciding it was time Richmond had a full-blown bicycle skills park, a facility that could help grow the city’s cycling culture. Fiscal Sponsor Dirt World is a project of Richmond Friends of Recreation, a 501c3 nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to help fund and organize city sports and recreation programs. Over the decades, RFOR has supported youth aquatics, basketball, baseball, boxing and soccer programs in Richmond. RFOR is best known for its central role in renovating and reopening the Richmond Plunge swimming pool, after the historic facility was damaged in the Loma Private quake and fell into disrepair. You can learn more about RFOR at their website, rfor.org Key Stakeholders Greg Hardesty heads the City of Richmond Parks and Landscaping department, where he has worked for two decades. Hardesty, who has been a big supporter of Dirt World, helped create and sustain the city’s groundbreaking community-build park program. Judith Morgan is president of Richmond Friends of Recreation Judy has been on the RFOR board since its inception, providing leadership and continuity with other Richmond recreational initiatives. Jeanine Strickland, a landscape architect, has 20 years of experience in park planning and development, including the successful renovation of Richmond’s JFK Park. As project manager for The Trust for Public Land, she coordinated design and construction and managed the $375,000 budget, leveraging it by at 300%. Alex Fowler is our design-build contractor and head of Action Sports Construction, which specializes in the development of bike parks, pump tracks and race tracks. A leading contractor in the industry, Alex has built projects across the globe, including the BMX track at the Rio Olympics and tracks at the Sea Otter Classic. Alex built the JFK Park pump track in 2015. Dennis “D2” Hoskins is co-founder of Dope Sauce Bike Club Program, Dirt World program manager, site stewardship coordinator and construction manager. Jim Jacobsen, a longtime trail builder responsible for some of Northern California’s best single track including the famed Tamarancho Flow Trail, will be operating machinery and helping to sculpt the park. Board of Directors For the past year, Dirt World’s all-volunteer efforts have been directed by a steering committee of five people. Now our team has created a formal board including: * Howard Cato, Executive Director of Bay Area BMXers * Robert Ramirez, Programs Director NorCal High School Cycling League * A.C. Thompson, parent, rider, journalist * Troy Thompson, Director of Kids in Motion after school program * Phil Segura, owner of RideSFO and the Super Fun Outdoor Expo * Jeanine Strickland, landscape architect and park designer * Dennis “D2” Hoskins * Jasmin Malabed Donations and support We’ll be launching an online crowd-funding effort momentarily, but we’re also reaching out to potential supporters directly. We’d love to get your help in reaching our goal of raising $10,000 for construction expenses and will be recognizing our major funders with permanent signage at the park and on our website (dirtworld.org) and Facebook page (facebook.com/dirtworlddsbc). So far, Title Nine sports apparel is the only company to step up to back the park. We’d love to get more business support, particularly from the cycling industry. We’re also on the hunt for in-kind support. Do you own earth-moving equipment? Can you operate heavy equipment? Can you help with donating gifts for a raffle or fundraiser? Are you handy with a shovel? We’ll be looking for volunteers to help with fine-tuning the dirt features once the major sculpting is complete. If you have any interest in helping out Dirt World in any way, or any questions, please reach out to A.C. Thompson, our fundraising and media coordinator. We’d love to take you out the site and get you stoked about this project! Contact info for A.C. Thompson: cell 347.563.8121; email: acinvestigates@gmail.com or info@dirtworld.org