Go Ape bringing a ropes course to Byrd Park

RVANews staff — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 16:47:16 +0000

Today the City's Urban Design Committee unanimously approved pieces of a plan by Go Ape to bring a ropes course to Byrd Park. The course would be located in the wooded area behind the Carillon. The entire course -- excepting a wooden building used for ticket sales and some fencing -- would be suspended in the trees. Existing trails would be improved and would still be available for mountain biking, hiking, and dog-walking.

Go Ape has 30 courses in the UK and one in Rockville, Maryland. They're very aware/concerned about maintaining the environment around their courses because it supports their business. The building next to the planned course at the Carillon would be constructed with "green" materials and the trees would be inspected annually by an independent arborist to keep 'em healthy.

The course can support 15 people at a time every 30 minutes, so parking needs will be pretty low; they play on sharing the nearby dog park lot. The projected cost will be 55$ for adults and 35$ for children -- this is subject to change as they are still tinkering with price points. The experience will run between two and three hours.

If all pieces of the plan are approved and the course is constructed, Richmond will be the first metro/urban location for a project of this kind.

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