Secret Ontario bike park demolished by city reopens as oasis for mountain bikers
Two years after a secret bike park deep in an Ontario forest was discovered and later demolished, new dirt jumps are opening just a stone's throw away.
“Greenland was different for everybody,” rider and organizer Steven Lind told CTV News Toronto, referencing the more than a decade old homemade oasis for mountain bikers near the Oshawa Airport.
“Some people found comradery there. For some people, it was their home away from home.”
Some even nurtured highly acclaimed careers at the local spot. Mike Varga, an X Games Gold Medallist who grew up in Oshawa, was a regular at the community course.
“These jumps definitely enabled me to become what I wanted to become,” Varga told CTV News Toronto when word got out that the city was shuttering the park.
In 2020, the City of Oshawa found out about the unsanctioned BMX park, which happened to sit on city-owned land. Not long after, fences with padlocks blocked off the park.
At the time, a city spokesperson voiced concerns surrounding safety, the lack of access for emergency vehicles and visibility of the park, since it was located in a forested area.
A fence blocks off the original BMX park in Oshawa (Greenland). In response, Lind started a petition. “I just crossed my fingers,” he said. It accumulated more than 6,500 signatures and he began meeting with city council to find a solution that would serve the community.
“We ended up finding a new location just adjacent to the original,” Lind said. The key difference about the new space on Thornton Road North was that it was visible to the public.
The original target was to build a new bike park within four years. But just two years later, a ribbon was cut at a grand opening ceremony for the new location on Thursday.
“I got a smile on my face so big, I'm having trouble wiping it off,” local city councillor Rick Kerr said while standing alongside the new park.
“This is exactly what I saw when I wanted to get this park built.”
Volunteers help build the new Greenland in Oshawa, Ont.While the original intent of the project was to replace lost space for the bike community, it’s also serving the neighbourhood with plans for a splash pad and pickleball court in the cards.
“It’s also significant because it’s opened up a piece of land that’s been empty for a decade, if not longer,” Lind said.
“Even if it’s taken away from a previous legacy, it’s started a new one,” he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
LIVE B.C. seeks ban on using drugs in 'all public spaces,' shifting approach to decriminalization
The B.C. government is moving to have drug use banned in 'all public spaces,' marking a major shift in the province's approach to decriminalization.
Air traveller complaints to Canadian Transportation Agency hit new high
The Canadian Transportation Agency has hit a record high of more than 71,000 complaints in a backlog. The quasi-judicial regulator and tribunal tasked with settling disputes between customers and the airlines says the backlog is growing because the number of incoming complaints keeps increasing.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
U.S. flight attendant indicted in attempt to record teen girl in airplane bathroom
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.
76ers All-Star centre Joel Embiid says he has Bell's palsy
Philadelphia 76ers All-Star centre Joel Embiid has been diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a form of facial paralysis he says has affected him since before the play-in tournament.
AFN chief says Air Canada offered a 15% discount after her headdress was mishandled
After the Assembly of First Nations' national chief complained to Air Canada about how staffers treated her and her ceremonial headdress on a flight this week, she says the airline responded by offering a 15 per cent discount on her next flight.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.