The Story Behind The Factory 4.0 Indoor BMX Park Rebuild in Minneapolis

I can not tell you how many people tell us “you should do this, this would be cool” etc etc it will be something that never ends, and trust me, we have ideas too. if we could do it all we already would have. 

I have spent endless hours designing different park layouts to work in our space, not only that but to work with what we have already built in the past. In the past the ramps have always been basically a “single lane skatepark” if you will, or a one line park. There was only one way to go, every time you dropped in. 

Since day one we have always wanted to expand, but financially it has never been feasible. I would rather have our little park for 10 years (already half way there somehow) than expand and have to shut down after a couple because we can’t afford it. Things take time, and many people don’t understand that. Seriously we have people who ask “How did these ramps get here?” Somewhere who walks in and sees a new ramp sometimes has no clue what went into the new build, and the 72 hour all night build sessions, no sleep, slivers in our fingers etc. the ramps just build themselves right ??

Slowly but surely we are getting there. Every year we are working towards that better place for everyone to ride and get excited about. The 4.0 rebuild was about making things friendly, rideable to all, and the best part, feel more like an actual park. We started by scaling many of the ramps down a bit. When we originally built the place we wanted big ramps, and we still do but we were only catering to a small number of older more experienced riders. We tried this for years and it just wasn’t the best way to get more kids into BMX, let alone more memberships to keep rent paid & help the place grow.

Next we split the park into 3 sections, the brand new mini ramp & spine section, the very wall & box jump section, and the kids section. You could even say we have a 4th street section now as well with all the flat rails, boxes, etc. Now the park actually has some flow & some lines to it. Tons of transfers and overall soooooo much fun to ride. It is really the perfect variety.

On top of it all we really wanted to polish the place, with brand new fresh coat of paint, and we even talked about doing the walls…

Now how did all this actually happen ? Nearly all of our builds have started with my main partner in crime Jason Tufty. Jason is a MACHINE when it comes to building, and such a fun guy to be around. Jason & I know every square inch of that place. This year we’ve also had a TREMENDOUS amount of help from some of the BMX dad’s… Wyatt’s dad Jeff Oliver, Reed’s dad Rob Bleymeyer, and Isaac’s dad Justin Zimmer. This crew right here, what an incredible team. There was also help from other riders & parents as well. Huge thank you to everyone who helped out. 

The entire build took about 6 months off & on. We would hammer out certain areas within a few days so that it is rideable, then work on another piece a few weeks later. This was the biggest building project we have ever completed. And we polished it all off with Jeff Oliver’s professional painting services & all of us did the new coat of paint on all of the ramps and walls. 

It looks absolutely GORGEOUS. The Factory is the best it has ever been. Not only the actually riding, but the entire look of the place. I am more proud than ever of our team, it feels incredible to bring anyone inside that place now. So much more friendly. Thank you all once again for you support in our facility, it has been quite a project over the years. Have fun riding, and let me know if you ever have any questions.

Check out The Factory’s Website for more details, session times, costs, etc, you can even get your own key to this place. That is how we have ran it from day one.