WEBC and the town hold open house to discuss new skills park

Adam and Xavier Desjardins take a look at some of the plans for the proposed new skills park at the Libro Centre .

A possible new mountain bike skills park could be built on the Libro Centre’s grounds and the public got a look at some of the plans late last week.

The skills park is being proposed by the Windsor-Essex Bike Community (WEBC) in partnership with the Town of Amherstburg. 

The open house was held by WEBC and the town’s recreation, parks and facilities department in the lobby of the Libro Centre last Friday evening.

James Braakman, one of the five directors with WEBC, said they were getting positive feedback from those who stopped by. 

“It’s going good,” he said of the open house.

An open house was held in the Libro Centre lobby last Friday evening, with a diagram of what is being proposed by WEBC being one of the displays.

The skills park is proposed for a patch of land between the skateboard park and where the new Amherstburg fire station is going, in the Larry Bauer Park section of the Libro Centre complex.

Braakman said the skills park would be for both beginner and advanced riders and make them feel more comfortable before they hit the actual trails.

“A lot of features in the skills park will mimic what is on the trails,” said Braakman.

The skills park will further improve safety on the trails, he believed, as riders will be able to master or improve their skills on features before actually going back onto the trails.

The cost of the skills park is estimated by WEBC, with fundraising to be held during this winter and spring, to be between $30,000-$50,000. 

“It will be similar to the mountain bike trails,” said Braakman. “There will be no cost to taxpayers.”Braakman said fundraising paid for the three-phase trail system that starts on the berms behind the baseball diamond and football field and winds its way around the arena itself and ends with features near the Amherstburg Dog Park.

The skills park is the “cherry on top” of what has already been accomplished, and that it was already in the plans. 

WEBC has a land stewardship agreement with the Town of Amherstburg and he believed WEBC is giving the town good value given the trails have been installed and maintained by volunteers.

“It’s a cool relationship,” said Braakman.

Heidi Baillargeon, the town’s director of parks, facilities and recreation, said it was the first open house since the adoption of the updated parks master plan.

“We just want to hear what people have to say about adding this park at Larry Bauer Park within the complex at the Libro Centre,” said Baillargeon.

Baillargeon agreed that features in the park would match up with what is actually on the trail. 

While a presentation was recently made to town council on the idea, WEBC will be returning to a meeting  in the future to obtain formal approval. Baillargeon anticipates it will be brought back to town council in the first quarter of 2026.

WEBC and town hold open house to discuss new skills park

By Ron Giofu