MANKATO — Retired Mankato developer Curt Fisher has made the first big cash donation toward a $3 million plan to transform a tapped out Mankato quarry into a world class mountain biking park.
The $50,000 donation by the Curt and Debbie Fisher Fund was the focal point of a Thursday gathering at the quarry that served as the commencement of a fundraising effort that will target other big donors as well as average biking enthusiasts. The vision for Rockwell Mountain Bike Trails is a 16-mile system of spectacular riding opportunities — free and open to the public — that will draw visitors from the Twin Cities, Rochester, northern Iowa and beyond.
Thursday’s event, organized by Greater Mankato Growth, aimed to persuade business owners, corporate officials and others capable of five-figure or six-figure contributions of the broader economic benefits that the unique attraction will bring. Beyond the tourism impact, Rockwell is the sort of quality-of-life amenity that will give Mankato companies and institutions an edge in attracting and retaining young employees, according to GMG President and CEO Della Schmidt.
Schmidt noted the concept’s compatibility with a recently completed strategic plan for making the regional economy thrive over the next 15 years.
“This project checks off so many of the boxes that are contained in that plan,” Schmidt said, later predicting that other attendees would be following Fisher’s lead after learning more about Rockwell. “You’re all going to go out of here as disciples… .”
Kyle Kaldor, the project manager for the broader Rockwell RV and Adventure Park, provided much of the background information to chamber of commerce members as young mountain bikers rode behind him on a 1,000-foot loop of sample trail. The trail system is only part of the plan for the 90-acres of limestone, gravel and woodland along Third Avenue just north of Mankato city limits.
Quarry owner Joe Holtmeier of Holtmeier Construction is also developing a for-profit RV campground with water park features including a cable park for waterskiing in the central portion of the property. The bike trails will surround the campground and quarry ponds, constructed on property Holtmeier is donating through a permanent land lease to the nonprofit Mankato Area Mountain Bikers organization.
“So that will live on forever,” Kaldor said. “The public will be able to use that for free.”
For bike tourists, the campground and water parks might be an added draw to make Rockwell a multi-day destination. And the trails will be part of the attraction for customers of the campground and water parks, which will carry admission fees.
“The two projects complement each other perfectly,” he said.
The value of the permanent land lease and other contributions made by Holtmeier toward the trail project total an estimated $500,000. Combined with the Fishers’ donation, Mankato Area Mountain Bikers are about 20% of the way to the $3 million fundraising goal for development of the trail system, according to MAMB treasurer Justin Rinehart.
The donations are needed to construct the trail system, which will be built by a professional trail designer, for materials and to cover the cost of adjacent land just northwest of the Holtmeier property that MAMB recently purchased, according to Rinehart. That added land allows the system to reach 16 miles in length, which is large enough to attract riders looking for two or more days of mountain biking.
Holtmeier, a history buff, also has hopes of incorporating Mankato’s heritage — particularly its mining and agricultural past — into portions of the trail. Concepts include a wooden ramp looping around a full-size excavator, metal bridges suspended from a historic mining crane and a trail section traveling through and over a railroad freight car.
Sponsorships of as much as $150,000 are being sought to develop those special features, and naming rights for the corporate, institutional or individual donor will come with the contribution.
Those sorts of features, while capable of making Mankato’s mountain bike park truly one-of-a-kind, will drive up the cost of trail development, according to Rinehart. He has no doubt that enough money will be raised to create the park, possibly in stages.
“It’ll become a reality,” Rinehart said.
“It’s just a matter of the speed of it and the level of awesomeness.”
Sections of trail with smaller price tags can bring naming rights for a lesser donation. The Fishers’ contribution, for instance, was targeted at a manmade waterfall that’s part of the first 1,000-foot trail segment.
With “Fisher Family Falls” trickling down a sheer limestone cliff behind him, Curt Fisher encouraged others in the crowd to help make the mountain bike park a reality.
“It’s a wonderful thing,” Fisher said.
But the self-described bike enthusiast indicated he probably would be sticking to less daunting trails than the one that winds above the waterfall.
“I don’t know if I’ll be going up there,” he said.
Fisher and other bikers might be choosing which trails to tackle, and which to leave to younger riders, as soon as next summer under current schedules.
Although environmental reviews and a variety of permits are required before the RV campground, water parks and other elements of the for-profit adventure park can be developed, mountain bike trails are a permitted use in Lime Township and construction could begin this winter, according to Kaldor.
People interested in making donations or learning more about the project can find details at the websites for Rockwell RV and Adventure Park and at Mankato Area Mountain Bikers.