Rockstar Energy

Rockstar Energy

World-class Athletes Drawn to New Houston Bike Park

Yellowstone Landscape

Project Details:

Cost $25 million | Build Time 4 years | Size 30 acres | Stats Largest BMX track in North America

Rockstar Energy BMX Park in North Houston, Texas, is a project completed in 2020 by Yellowstone Landscape. Located in an area near the Bush Airport, it is the largest BMX track in the country. This area got some attention when there was the development of two parks that Yellowstone Landscape also worked on: the nation’s biggest Skate Park and Dylan Park. Both of these projects are noteworthy for their size, scale and functions. Dylan Park is an “accessible” park, meant to be used by all children with attention to the needs and desires of children with disabilities, either physical or cognitive. It is a special place.

But it was the Skate Park that led to the development of Rockstar Energy BMX Park. When the impressive Skate Park was unveiled, BMX riders asked for a place for themselves. What they got was a world-class facility.

Yellowstone Landscape designed, installed and maintains the green spaces of all three parks. Joseph Barnes, of Yellowstone Landscape out of Florida, explains that his company is “mostly maintenance, with a little bit of install,” specializing in large-scale commercial projects. But the colossal job they did and continue to do at Rockstar Energy BMX Park seems to outstrip that description. If you were to picture this project and had no access to the photos, then you might picture a simple dirt track. The photos tell a much different story. With the park’s website talking about concrete bowls, concrete pump tracks, street sections and dirt jumps, one also sees impressive viewing stands, buildings for judges of competitions— and all of these features aimed to be used by riders at a variety of skill levels. Particularly impressive is that the park is meant to be used by worldclass riders and neighborhood children and will even loan a child a bike.

A place as unique as this presented unique challenges to the people at Yellowstone Landscape. There was a big kickoff celebration scheduled to herald the opening of the park. As one can imagine, there were several sorts of contractors working on this project. Joseph says that in the last week there were 60 men from Yellowstone Landscaping working in order to bring the project in on deadline.

Barnes notes that while they designed the landscape, others designed the actual course The idea was to make that space both beautiful and functional. He says that the biggest challenge in this project involved what the property was before it was a BMX park: a large, undeveloped piece of land totalling 30 acres. The next challenge was coordinating work with all the many other contractors who brought in equipment, did concrete work or installed various apparatus for the space. Having many different people trying to get their part of the work done presents particular challenges. For instance, it makes it hard to get into the space logistically and timewise. Barnes says that “developing an irrigation system was a real challenge, because the concrete couldn’t be left wet.” Wet concrete can be hazardous for riders. The project had labor challenges, too.

“Usually, we have four to five people on a crew,” he says. “Here, we generally had 20-25 before moving to 60 toward the end. This was not a normal park opening, as it featured many stars from the BMX world. We were right down to the wire on getting it finished. It was a high-profile project.”

All of those challenges were successfully met by Yellowstone Landscape, and together with the many other people involved, they were able to create a special place. As Barnes says, “The people of the area asked for this park. The improvement district heard them and responded with the biggest park in North America.

We like projects like this that connect us to the community

Contact:

Yellowstone Landscape

Tel: (386) 437 – 6211

www.yellowstonelandscape.com