Kelowna

The mountain biking community across North America is apparently quite excited about the prospect of a skills park being built in Kelowna.

Mayor Sharon Shepherd, says the consultant who prepared the local mountain bike strategy has been receiving a lot of inquiries from enthusiasts across North America.

Shepherd says she ran into the consultant while attending a recent conference in Vancouver.

"He basically left us with the question 'are we ready as a community,' because he is already getting calls from many different magazines that have heard about the study and the evaluation of our area and he's absolutely excited and promoting our community," says Shepherd.

"He was telling us it was going to happen and we had better get ready."

City Council continued to pave the way for the skills park Monday, approving an application to rezone the property on Hollywood Road South.

Urban Land Use Manager, Danielle Noble, says the city owned land is ideal for the skills park because of its close proximity to existing trails, transit, parking, washrooms and schools.

Construction is expected to begin later this year.