The Warman Diamond BMX track could become the first Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) certified facility in Saskatchewan.
The certification would allow the Warman Diamond BMX Club, which maintains the track on a volunteer basis for the city, to host national and international events.
Before that can happen, however, a perimeter fence would have to be installed around the track for safety and security reasons.
And because the track itself, and Prairie Oasis Park in which it is situated, are both city-owned public property, fencing off the facility is a sensitive issue.
Warman City Council wrestled with the question at a meeting on Monday, June 7, and in the end voted to allow the club to erect a four-foot chain-link fence around the track at the club’s own expense.
Council did include several conditions, however. The fence will have only one lockable gate that would be used for track maintenance vehicles, while the four other “access points” would not have any lockable or permanent gates.
The pedestrian and bicycle openings will not interfere with the existing pathways, park lighting or hill features at the park, and will still allow unrestricted public access to the track except during club-sanctioned race events.
Warman Recreation and Community Services Manager Paul McGonigal told the June 8 city council meeting that similar requests for a fence have been made by the club in the past. Those requests were denied because the intent of the raceway was that it remain available to the public when the Diamond BMX Club was not offering its program.
This time around, the department’s concerns regarding public accessibility appear to have been satisfied, and there is the added benefit of UCI certification and the potential to host larger competitive events.
“In order to host major events, the raceway must be able to separate spectators from the athletes,” said McGonigal. “I believe we can allow a perimeter fence to be installed and still keep the raceway open and accessible to the general public.”