BMX riders in Redmond may not have to wander around town looking for a place to ride or build jumps for much longer.

The idea of building a BMX park in the city is inching closer to becoming a reality now that a location has been found.

After BMX riders were banned from using the skate park in 2007, they have been looking for ways to keep up their hobby around town. In September of last year, BMX riders Drew Dennis, 14, and Andrew Herrera, 11, petitioned the Redmond City Council to build a park for Redmond’s BMX riders to use.

Surprisingly, the city listened.

“It really surprised me that they were pretty in on the whole program,” Drew said. “Me and my friend just asked about talking to the city about it, and they set us up with a meeting.”

The council took Drew, Andrew and all the other bikers who showed up seriously, and since then the city has found a location for the park and the project is in its early stages of planning.

The location for the park will be on the north end of Frank and Josephine Redmond Linear Park, located between North Canal Boulevard and the reroute.

The land is currently owned by the Oregon Department of Transportation, but it allowed the city to use the land at no cost, said Redmond Public Works Director Chris Doty.

“We thought we should get all this in one place,” he said. “It is a great thing to encourage this and not look away from it.”

Redmond already has a BMX race track located at the High Desert Sports Complex, but it is not city-owned, Doty said.

After hearing the proposal, Redmond City Councilor Shirlee Evans began spearheading the project and its progress.

Evans, who is also a former planning commissioner, said she became involved with the BMX park because it is important for everyone to have an area to practice and ride, not just skateboarders.

“As a city we had a user conflict and saw a real demand for this,” she said. “When the ban went in, it was the first time we realized we need to look for another location for those riders.”

It’s a slow process getting the project moving, she said, especially since it is difficult to come up with the money to fund the park.

With the state of the economy and the resulting budget problems, the city does not have enough money to fund special programs, Doty said. So the project will have to be funded through donations and volunteer work.

“We wish we could afford to pay for it and get it done fast, but it’s not fiscally possible,” he said. “Right now, it’s a grass-roots effort.”

The city and the group are looking to build an inexpensive bike park, but they still need to raise about $10,000 to pay for the costs.

So far the bicycle community has stepped up and put in its share of work on the bike park. The bicycle shop Trinity Bikes in Redmond, several BMX riders from the city and free-ride coordinator and board member at the Central Oregon Trail Alliance Nick Braun have dedicated time to work on the project.

Braun, who is charge of maintenance and construction at the free-ride area, The Lair in Bend, is helping design the BMX park in Redmond.

“I’m really excited about getting involved in this,” he said. “What I’m hoping to do is put in a large pump track, a small jump line and maybe some rocks.”

Since going back to school this fall, Drew hasn’t been able to get too involved, but he said once he has more time he will start looking for ways to raise funds for the project, like having car washes and petitioning for donations with the rest of his friends.

“We have all the bikers here in on it, and we have their support, so it won’t be hard to do this,” he said. “I think we’ll all be pretty happy once we do.”