Hundreds of people came for the grand opening of the Rideau Heights Community Centre on Saturday. The $11.5 Million dollar facility has been years in the making, with several partners working together to make it happen. Kingston Mayor, Brian Paterson, said it’s great to see everything come together.
“Incredible moment, not only for this neighbourhood, but it’s an incredible moment for the city,” Paterson said. “To be able to see years of work and planning and see this vision come to reality.”
Programs will be offered for youth, seniors and every age in between. A service that has been in desperate need by people living in the community, according to Sue Hitchcock with the City of Kingston.
“They felt underserviced and I think this is a big step forward in servicing them better.”
The 20,000 square-foot facility has been in the making for several years now. It’s part of the Rideau Heights Regeneration plan, an initiative by the city to help improve the north-end neighbourhood. Partners including Loving Spoonful, the Seniors Centre and the Boys and Girls Club will all provide programming at what officials are calling a state-of-the-art facility for the area. Executive director of Boys and Girls Club Kingston, Harold Parsons, said the new building is really going to give them an edge on how they offer their programming.
“It allows us to bring members from different schools together. So they’re not just in their own school being served. It will really help the community when we have more diversity and kids from different school boards as well.”
The centre was made possible thanks to a partnership with the city and the Limestone District School Board.
For a full list of the activities offered, visit the City of Kingston website.