A new structure erected in Frankfort already is drawing cycling enthusiasts as well as fans of skating and skateboarding to the village.
Officials there liken the new attraction to a dirt bike track without the dirt.
The Judy Herder Memorial Pumptrack was installed earlier this month in Indian Boundary Park along Old Plank Trail, where many cyclists, skateboarders and roller skaters have been stopping by to give it a try.
“Right after it stopped raining I saw kids on it,” said Frankfort Park District Director Gina Hassett. “People are coming from New Lenox.”
She said area kids often would make do by devising their own tracks and ramps made of wood.
Hassett said she believes Frankfort’s new modular track made of composite material is one of the first of its kind in the Midwest.
The pumptrack is a 215-foot course with turns and 36-inch hills that adds excitement for anyone riding a non-motorized wheeled device.
It’s set on top of grass and Hassett said officials preferred this type of track over a dirt one because it requires virtually no maintenance and does not leave a mess.
The price tag was $55,000 and it was paid for by the Operation Playground Foundation through donations and with no taxpayer money.
“We’re a small district with a low tax rate,” Hassett said. “We don’t have a lot of fancy amenities.”
But she said the foundation does a nice job supplementing the district with popular attractions.
The foundation was started in 1999 after a group of community organizers, including Phil Simmons and Judy Herder, wanted to raise funds to build something on a 60-acre parcel of empty park district land.
Herder organized all of the volunteers and Simmons helped raise the money, and together they built Fort Frankfort, a playground, picnic shelter and other amenities in Commissioners’ Park.
When that project was complete, Simmons said some of the organizers, included himself and Herder, continued to work on other projects for Frankfort’s parks.
Herder died of cancer in 2016.
“We miss her dearly,” Simmons said. “This (pumptrack) is a project we talked about doing. We wanted something for the kids on their bikes.”
He said he and Herder had been working for several years to bring a pumptrack to Frankfort but officials were not excited about one made of dirt because of the maintenance required.
Simmons said the composite pumptrack named after Herder alleviated officials’ concerns.
“This is made of a high-density polymer and it’s aesthetically appealing,” he said. “It’s been gratifying to see kids of all ages, from five to 50 years old, use it.”
Simmons said Herder was a very humble woman who was involved in Frankfort in more than its parks, such as with historical preservation and it’s summer concert series.
He said Herder was instrumental in helping to provide many of the amenities Frankfort has had in the last 20 years.
“Everything ran because of Judy,” he said. “If she was not involved in those things we may not have had them.”
The next fundraiser for the foundation is the Pours for Parks, a craft beer tasting event at 3 p.m. Saturday at Founders Community Center, 140 Oak St.,
The $30 ticket includes 10 tastings of a choice of 16 local brews along with a tasting glass.
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