March 20, 2014 – A local bike group is proposing that an outdoor, 200metre velodrome be built in Nanaimo, BC, a city of 84,000 reports The Nanaimo Daily News. The Mid Island Velo Association (MIVA) is pushing for such a facility and the idea is apparently competing with other proposals for funding. On its website MIVA describes itself as “…promoting bike racing in the Mid Vancouver Island Region”.
“[MIVA] is in the process of putting together a proposal for the city to install such a facility as part of the Beban Park Master Plan,” group spokesman Peter McCaffery wrote in an open letter on the topic. Beban Park is a major recreational centre near the north end of Nanaimo. MIVA has been conducting regular time trials on Nanaimo River Road to the south of town.
It is unclear if any cost estimates have been made public for this project which still seems to be in its very preliminary stages. Pedal attempted to contact MIVA and as far as we know there is no tentative completion date for the project. Vancouver Island already has the 333m outdoor Westshore Velodrome in Colwood that was built for the 1994 Commonweatlh Games.
Meanwhile, more details have been revealed of the proposed new velodrome in Edmonton, AB. Plans for a new recreation centre to be built in Coronation Park include a 250metre indoor cycling track, a running track, a fitness centre and three courts for such sports as basketball, volleyball and field hockey reports The Edmonton Journal. The price tag for the centre has been estimated at $80 million and there are competing proposals for what to do with the money. If approved, construction could begin in 2015.
The Edmonton proposal, which is supported by the Argyll Velodrome Association and the Edmonton Triathlon Academy, could become North America’s first fully indoor triathlon training centre.