Outdoor rink on the way for Kinkora residents

It's almost time to lace up the skates and tape the hockey sticks central P.E.I. residents,a new outdoor rink is on the way.

A group of volunteers pushing for an outdoor rink in Kinkora, P.E.I., are rejoicing after council recently approved $10,000 in funding to set up a new ice surface in the small community.

• Kinkoraresidents making the case for outdoor rink

The money, which comes from the community'sgas tax rebate, will helpsetthe plan to build askating rink behind the fire hall and Kanata Club in motion.

Kinkora resident Janet Payne organized a team of volunteers to make the case tocouncil and said the funding will allow them to start Phase 1 on Tuesday night,pegging off the land for the rink.

This would not have been possible without those 12 who volunteered their time.Janet Payne

"Phase 1 is fairly basic, that means we would have a 90 by 70 size rink and it would be a clay base with a berm perimeter so no boards all the way around, but we'd need boards at either end just to prevent the pucks from shooting off into nowhere," Payne said.

They'd also like to have lighting and a hydrant for flooding the ice, she added.

Phase 2 of the project would begin after the spring melt, when the group would look for the rink to be a permanent fixture in the community.

'Good timing'

But for now, Payne is just thinking about getting the rink up and running.

The community will alsosoon have their 12 youngvolunteers back from school to help bring the project to life.

"This would not have been possible without those 12 who volunteered their time. It really is good timing in the sense that many of these volunteers are in college and university and their Christmas vacation is coming up," she said.

"They think if they'll have a good few weeks of cooperative weather they could get a really good base on that rink but it all depends on Mother Nature."

She said she hopes to see the rink go up as soon as possible and is aiming for sometime in January, depending on the weather.

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