Here is my 5 cents on the subject (I used to charge 2 cents, but the price of oil pushed that up 😀 )
I was thinking about why have many towns/counties embraced skate parks and not BMX parks?
Answer: no one complains about BMXers (for the most part).
When I was single and still riding my BMX bike around town in my early 20’s, the big uproar was about all the skateboarders tearing up the town. Ordinances were passed banning public skateboarding in a lot of places around Morristown and the surrounding area. Us BMX’ers had more places to ride freely, where as most boarders stuck to local public spots to thrash. Plus, most of our jumps were in the woods where no one really saw us. Out of sight, out of mind.
I’m not saying that your idea won’t work, just know that I don’t think towns see BMXers as a nuisance like they did boarders. We all know in politics the squeaky wheel gets the oil, right?
That said, I have been slowly making friends with a former councilman in our town who really seems to care about the kids and has helped with alot of the other sports programs. He plans on re-running for the council after giving up his seat to run for mayor last year. I’ll update you on that if anything progresses.
I understand where you are going with this Brett, and that is to show people that this is a valid sport that is worthy of their attention and another good outlet for kids and families. We have an uphill battle because of the lack of marketing expertise in the past that has kept alot of BMX out of the mainstream spotlight, at least as far as promoting it as a legitimate sport to the masses.