By Josh Howald

It was fitting that Harbour Church received such wonderful weather for Saturday’s official opening of a new recreation pad in Kincardine.

The Kincardine Canadian Tire novices played an exhibition scrimmage following the grand opening of the Harbour Church's outdoor recreation pad on Saturday. For more on the story, don't miss In the Slot...in this week's print edition of The Kincardine Independent. (Josh Howald photo)

The church identified a need in Kincardine, and then went for it. It should be no surprise the rec pad project got such a great response from the community.

Dozens of people, of all ages, came out to Saturday’s ribbon cutting – many with their skates – on a sunny, crisp Saturday afternoon. Prior to an exhibition contest between members of the Kincardine Home Hardware novices, they heard Pastor Ray Luinstra of the Harbour Church explain the project and thank those who helped make the all-season, multi-purpose rec pad a reality.

“Through the generosity of the community, we were able to make this happen,” said Luinstra, who had deputy mayor Anne Eadie cut the ribbon, stretched between two hockey nets.

“The Church had this vision, and it was something that was badly needed,” said Eadie. “and as great as minor sports are, the kids need a place like this where they can just hang out, get that unstructured play and even get a bit of exercise.”

“Everybody is welcome to use this facility,” Luinstra told the crowd. “I can’t stress that enough. The community had such an involvement. It’s not just for church members, it’s for everyone.”

He referred to the corporate sponsors who signed on early in the project – Bruce Telecom, Home Hardware and Canadian Tire, as well as members of the Kincardine Fire Department and countless others. There is a rec pad committee of 12 members, ranging in age from teenager to senior citizen.

The project began with an outdoor ice surface two years ago, and last year the church had a concrete pad poured. Another $16,000 was spent on lighting for the pad, which will be used for ball and roller hockey in the summer months. There are also plans to add basketball nets.

Unique to the project are portable boards that contain the concrete pad. The total cost of the boards was about $14,000 – and that money was raised by selling 40 eight-foot sections at $300 each. They were all sold before they were installed.

“As a church, we sincerely want to make our community a better place for people to live,” said Luinstra, noting the church is home to all kinds of different user groups from all walks of life.

“We hope it brings much pleasure and enjoyment to all the people of this great town and in a small way we can help it to become a more enjoyable place to live.”