New community pavilion possible for Inverhuron's Upper Park

By JENNIFER SCHLEICH
KINCARDINE NEWS
A place to gather and host community events is all the Inverhuron community wants, and it just might get it in the form of a pavilion at the Upper Park, after a request by Mel McGuigan, Marelle Evans and John Dickson of the Inverhuron and District Ratepayers Association.
"It's been our hope over the years to have a place to gather and we hope it comes to fruition that we can build a pavilion for the seniors and young people," said McGuigan to Municipality of Kincardine council on Wednesday, Nov. 2.
The pavilion would be approximately 40ft x 80ft and feature public washrooms, something the Inverhuron community currently lacks and which would be an asset to the hamlet.
"There has been a great deal of interest in having public washrooms because there are none in Inverhuron and the community does have a need to meet and play together," said councillor Maureen Couture, who was happy to hear about the proposal.
The pavilion is being proposed for Upper Park, at the corner of Bruce Road 15 and Albert St., as opposed to McIntyre Park due to the increase in traffic they will cause.
"It's better to have washrooms at the Upper Park in terms of traffic. McIntyre Park is a small quiet space where families can trust their small children to go play, we don't want to increase traffic there. There is more parking at Upper Park and visitors can park there and change, then walk down to the beach," said Evans.
Council was very supportive of the proposal, as Inverhuron hasn't asked for any monetary funds from council since amalgamation and has been much neglected over the past several years.
"I support this, but it may be a two to three year thing. Inverhuron deserves a lot more attention in terms of infrastructure they've received in the past. They've been very patient," said councillor Ken Craig.
The IDRA have already established a committee to handle the project, and according to Mayor Larry Kraemer a few councillors will join the committee to help see it along.
Aside from washrooms, the facility will boast storage, a meeting space with a movable wall, a kitchen, open space for community events and roll down shutters to enclose the space.
The 480 residents of Inverhuron will be able to use the space for washrooms, an emergency shelter, social space for events such as Children's Day, yard sales, the IDRA Corn Roast IDRA meetings, family reunions, picnics, young adult activities, music concerts, open air movies and club events.
The IDRA requested the use of the $22,000 recreation reserve fun for a tennis court project in Inverhuron which never went forward, as well they will participate in community fundraising and will also seek other government grants for the project.
"The estimated cost of the project is approximately $220,000, which would include site preparation, the building, services to the building and a gravel parking area. We know of a couple Ontario grants which would be available to us," said McGuigan.
Council will discuss the possible pavilion further during the Planning and Corporate Services meeting this week on Wednesday, Nov. 9 at the Municipal Administration Centre at 5 p.m. As with all council meetings the public is welcome to attend for more information.