Hub-ba Hubba 

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• Benjamin Wood
• Salt Lake City leaders and representatives of The Bicycle Collective break ground on a new hub for cycling maintenance and education on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022.

GRANARY—Under a chorus of bike bells and speakers blaring Queen's "Bicycle Race," city leaders and representatives of The Bicycle Collective broke ground Thursday on what will become a community campus for cycling services, maintenance and education.

Strategically located near the juncture of the 9 Line Trail and 300 West Cycle Track—and just west of the burgeoning, transit-oriented Central 9th neighborhood—the so-called "Hub" will house all of the nonprofit Bicycle Collective's programs under one roof for the first time, executive director Donna McAleer said.

"Having a bicycle provides somebody with independent mobility, allowing them to go where they want, when they want," McAleer said. "Our new hub is built for efficiency to better serve our clients, our community partners and our customers."

The new building is planned to include a retail maintenance shop in addition the collective's traditional do-it-yourself workspace, where volunteers assist and educate bike owners on routine maintenance and repair. It also includes office and functional space for the collective's administrative and community services, which include the popular "bike valets" at events like the Downtown Farmers Market and Twilight Concert Series, as well as the nonprofits' core initiatives around the rehabilitation of used bikes, which are then resold at discount prices or donated to children and others in need.

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• Benjamin Wood
• Guests enjoy coffee and cookies at the site of a groundbreaking for a new Bicycle Collective campus in Salt Lake City.

The Bicycle Collective was able to secure its location on a city-owned parcel through a competitive bidding process—and ongoing financial partnership—with the city's Redevelopment Agency (RDA). But city councilmember Darin Mano—who previously served on the selection committee that evaluated the collective's application—said the idea was an obvious winner from the beginning.

"It was very clear that the Bicycle Collective would not just help tenants in a building or a private company," Mano said, "it would help the entire community."

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• Benjamin Wood
• Salt Lake city councilmember Darin Mano speaks at the groundbreaking for the new Bicycle Collective hub on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022.

Speaking at the groundbreaking, Mayor Erin Mendenhall praised the collective for its work within the community and lauded the new hub as a critical component in Salt Lake's emerging cycling network. She suggested that before long, cyclists will have a safe, connected route from Emigration Canyon to the Jordan River Surplus Canal, with the 9 Line Trail and the Bicycle Collective hub in between.

Bike riding, Mendenhall said, is a "common denominator," a skill many learn as children and carry with them throughout their lives.

"It’s a symbol of freedom, it’s a symbol of intention, it’s a symbol of connectedness," Mendenhall said. "I ride my bike to work because I want to see and smell and hear the city in a way that I can’t do inside of a car."

Several dormant cycling and alternative transportation plans have accelerated under the Mendenhall administration. The under-construction 9 Line and 300 West Cycle Track offer the highest levels of protection for cyclists ever attempted on city streets, 200 South is being transformed into a transit-first and cycling-second corridor and several major streets have undergone so-called "road diets"—such as Main Street and South Temple—which improve both traffic efficiency and cyclist/pedestrian safety.

"Thank you, Brigham Young for deciding to build six-ox-car-u-turn-wide streets," Mendenhall said. "We can do a lot of bike lanes on them."

Kendra Davis, a volunteer with the Bicycle Collective, spoke of her experience teaching people to fix a flat tire or swap out damaged components. There's a joy and power, she said, from knowing how to do something and how to do it right.

"I’ve been able to meet a variety of clients and fellow volunteers from different backgrounds and perspectives that have enriched my own views and understanding," Davis said. "I count myself lucky and blessed to have this opportunity at a time when nations and committees are becoming increasingly divided and polarized."

The Hub was designed by the firm Atlas Architects, which has steered much of the development in Central 9th over the last decade. Atlas' Jesse Hulse—who along with his business partner was described by Mendenhall as the neighborhood's "Granddaddies"—said the design is pragmatic (allowing for diverse uses and resistant to wear and tear) and inspired by the mechanics of a bicycle, with an exposed steel framework and materials that evoke both rugged mountain trails and sleek, urban environments.

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• Courtesy photo
• Jesse Hulse, of Atlas Architects.

"They have a lot going on in there, which always makes a building interesting when it has all these different components," Hulse said. "I love that we’re going to have a public-facing, nonprofit institution that anchors the western end of Central 9th—the way Spy Hop anchors the center of it. It creates that web of community and people working together, being neighbors."

Hulse described the hub project as a "match made in heaven," with the RDA and 9 Line facilitating a nonprofit bike shop in an undeserved community. He said the next year will be pivotal for the neighborhood, as the cumbersome road construction concludes and the 9 Line trail fully comes online.

"When we started this, our pitch was look at 9th and 9th and how that grew organically from all these mom and pop business and little buildings, that over time have evolved to become this incredible neighborhood that doesn’t have a lot of parking, but look at what it does have." Hulse said. "If we create this here in the middle, with 9th and 9th there [to the east], some day 9th and9th west will be the same."