Knoxville on Short List for $100K Bell Helmets Trail Building Grant

Communications Director

Kristin Farley
[email protected]
(865) 215-2589

400 Main St., Room 691
Knoxville, TN 37902

Last item for navigation
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share via Email
News item

Knoxville on Short List for $100K Bell Helmets Trail Building Grant

Posted: 05/11/2015
AMBC applies for Trail Building Grant from Bell HelmetsKnoxville's Appalachian Mountain Bike Club's project to build a world-class bike trail in the Urban Wilderness is a finalist in the Eastern Region of the Bell Helmets Trail Building Grant program. The winner will be determined by online voting that starts on Monday, May 11, 2015.

"This is a really exciting opportunity for us to put Knoxville in the big leagues with other biking destinations," said Matthew Kellogg, President of the Appalachian Mountain Bike Club (AMBC). "If we can build this trail, we add a progression to our trails that we don't currently have - with awesome opportunities for beginners to expert riders," he added.

The AMBC project is one of three finalists in the Eastern Region competition. Winning the region will put the project in the final voting against the already determined winners in the Western and Central divisions. The final online voting will begin on Monday, May 25, directly after finding out the results of the Eastern contest.

"Outdoor recreation, and specifically biking, makes a major economic impact on a community," said Carol Evans, Executive Director of Legacy Parks Foundation. "Building this trail and enhancing the great trails we already have will be great for Knoxville, but will also attract events and people from all over the country who bring their travel dollars with them," Evans continued.

Evans reported statistics from the biking industry including the fact that:
• Recreational bicycling is a $200 billion industry in the US
• One in 20 Americans makes a living off outdoor recreation - that's 70K in Tennessee
• For every dollar spent on bicycling tourism, $7 more is spent in locations they visit
• Property values close to trails and greenways are up to 30% higher

Voting in the Eastern Division opens Monday, May 11 and runs through May 24.

The website for voting is www.bellhelmets.com/bell-built

The AMBC has a website with more information and a form for signing up to get a reminder if the organization is in the final competition. That site is downtowndownhill.com.