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(10.12.01)
John Purse Partners with Grind

(October 10 - Houston, TX) Professional BMX Racer John Purse will be a partner with Grind Factory/Grind BMX, an extreme sports facility for the youth of Houston. Grind Factory/Grind BMX is set to open in Spring 2002 and will be offering the skateboarder, aggressive inline skater and BMX rider a variety of options for participating in their sport. The park will include an indoor skatepark, outdoor concrete street course featuring elements found in a public park but geared toward skaters and bikers, an ABA race track designed and operated by Professional BMX Racer John Purse, an indoor trails section and a dirt jump area for BMX. The park will include a pro shop featuring skateboards, aggressive inline skates and BMX bikes, snack bar and food court. Companies involved with sponsoring John Purse will have the opportunity to merchandise their products in the pro shop, food court or snack bar generating sales. In addition, John is looking forward to implementing clinics and new programs aimed at the BMX youth.

Grind Factory/Grind BMX is the brainchild of Sharolyn Stanley, a "skater mom", who wants to give the youth of Houston a safe place to skate and ride. Grind Factory/Grind BMX is located in Northwest Houston and consists of approximately 60,000 square feet of air-conditioned space on 5.7 acres, with 400 feet of street frontage. Built as Olympic gymnast Dominique Moceanue's training facility, the building is ideal for a skate park ­ high ceilings, smooth flat concrete floors, unobstructed spans, bleachers, locker rooms and a mezzanine level. The site itself is well suited for the additions of the street course and indoor and outdoor BMX track and trails.

In addition, two of the best ramp builders in the industry, JT Tyson and Tim Payne, are designing the ramps. JT Tyson will be designing the ramps and skatepark indoor course. He is the designer for the X games park course, and the exclusive ramp builder for ESPN. He is the owner of VPIndustries and is Skatepark Manager for Grind Factory. Tim Payne will be building the vert ramps and designing and building the outdoor "real world" street course for Grind Factory. He is owner of Team Pain, and builds skateparks around the country. He also designs and builds the vert ramps for the X Games and ESPN. They are ensuring that the facility meets the requirements for hosting ESPN exhibitions and competitions.

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