Cape Breton boy’s dream of having pump track nearby now in motion

Kail Dutt was nine years old in 2021 when he decided the Cape Breton Regional Municipality should have a pump track. 

And thanks to his efforts, it soon will.

The CBRM has issued a tender for the construction of a paved pump track in the former Neville Park soccer field in Whitney Pier, N.S..

“I’m really excited to see it happen,” said Dutt, now 11. “Me and a lot of other people worked so hard to work for this to be built and now it’s happening.”

The tender describes a pump track as a “looped circuit of rollers, banked turns and features.”

It’s designed to be used by riders on bikes, skateboards, in-line skates, scooters, and wheelchairs.

Instead of pedalling or pushing, riders use a “pumping” action to generate momentum over the rolling terrain.

Dutt first rode a pump track on his scooter while visiting Halifax. 

When he got back home to the CBRM, he launched a campaign, setting up a table in the farmers’ market, meeting with local politicians, and even recording a pump track song with the help of local musician Keith Mullins.

CBRM has set a maximum of $200,000 for the project and the cost will be shared with the federal government.

“We’re behind in the project. We had received the money a year ago,” said CBRM Mayor Amanda McDougall. “We had to put it off because we wanted to make sure and find the perfect space.”

Neville Park is accessible by transit, has adequate parking, and is currently being underused, she said.

‘Get people involved in the sport’

Kyle MacPhee, treasurer with the Cape Breton Skateboarders Association, hopes the new pump track will take some pressure off existing skate parks in the area.

“The CBRM right now is pretty starved for skateboard infrastructure,” he said.

“And I think it will go a long way just to stoke out kids and get people involved in the sport.”

Work is scheduled to start in July, and be complete in September.

“I can’t thank Kail enough for really being the person who spearheaded this project and now so many are going to benefit from it.” said McDougall.