An outdoor hockey rink, splash pad, and further renovations are coming to Kemptville’s Riverside Park. At a public event Wednesday, North Grenville Mayor Nancy Peckford and the rest of the municipal council are announcing the expansion to the park, which also has multiple baseball diamonds, soccer pitches, an outdoor pool and a skate park.
Mayor Peckford says the expansion is being created to allow people in the community to use the park year-round. “We can’t really make good use of it in the winter,” says Mayor Peckford, “and in the summer, there are some limits to what can be used.”
The budget for the expansion is $1.5-million, over two years, according to Mayor Peckford. “Quite frankly, for what we’re bringing to the park, the $1.5-million dollar investment is good value for money, and really, it represents a once-in-a-century investment in expanding our park.”
Mayor Peckford is also outlining the timeline for these additions, including rebuilding the 50 year-old change room building for the outdoor pool. “At this point, we’re actually fairly well along in final design,” Mayor Peckford says. “Our Parks and Rec team has been working actively for almost a year now to nail the design and to issue a tender for construction. And that would happen early in the new year, which means that we would put shovels in the ground, fingers crossed, by April or May.” She says she hopes for the outdoor rink to be available for next winter, and for the other new additions to be available by the end of summer in 2023.