The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Luge matron Fl'y-tyrrrg 6 mslvucuona‘ "WW supplies / Juyggg In! hum human!!! MLCSaUHEh fl J0_tltrrttalC0tt_tt 4, 1hrat_errto_ts 746-2650 RIM Park ready for play this summer Construction continues on the main sports complex and indoor facilities V Vi’arkwillbeopenforbusi nessaseartyasrmf _ -- M J Soccer, baseball and softball will help kick-cl? the project, which will serve the recreational needs of Waterloo for the next decade and beyond -By fall, the multi-use facility, a 330,000 square foot structule almost as big as Conestoga Mall, will also be Parks public fundraising FIppaignptys its g9?! wells , PO R _ TS The fundraising committee honours the donors to the new park ttedoo's $55 million spans BYBothiwuc chmnestrAr, mung A hshmo suptrlus operational, providing the community access to four new Olympic-sized rinks, four gymnasiums a field house with space for three indoor soccer fields and a 7tXl-person capadty ban. quet hall Bob McRtdand. the City of Waterloo's team leader in charge of program design and technical and community development, dmbed Almost everything that was envi- sioned for the project when it first got its public appruval two years ago can now be found on the site including a new lB-hole public golf course he public fundraising I campaign for the new jewel of Waterloo's recreation system has reached more than 80 per cent of its $7-mjllion goal. And the new SOO-acre park also got its name from the fundraisipg famr1aigry, Topping the list of public donors was a group of employees from Waterloo's Research in Motion who made a $2 million donation to the project. The Millennium Recreation Park was renamed RIM Park last Wednesday night, during the annual Waterloo Minor Sports dinner at the Waterloo Inn, in recognition of this major contribution. "The employees at RIM are very excited about the new park and are pleased to contribute In an initiative that will produce Iongstand- SPORTS Br Boa Vnmmc ,C’WJFKWIY the park as a product ofgoud planning and rncetmg the needs assessments studies done by the mutation and leisure department, "ll was useful to do the dreaming" said Mcradand “Then a whole host of different committees m the commu- mry reallyputinalol ofhardwnrkln to put the reality to the dxeam" That included a public fundraising component for the project which has airmdyraismi80percentoftheS7 mil- lion goal. including a $2 million dona- tion fiom the employees of hi-ledl company Research In Motion. which now lends its name to the new park "lt wasacaseofanexmmelycxl labomtive effort in the community to ensure that everybodywason board," said McRa%nd. "A dream would be depicted in from of people, the peo- ple would pick it apart, and then assemble it bad together. drearistarted out as" A tour of the [militia last Thursday grvevisitors asenseofthesmleofthe of the sou-acre park, which will Nude an extenshe trail system and Waterloo's first am to the Grand mwdreamroriherxukendaiup looking an am lot like what the iect: said Mcmdand. after giving a guided tour of the facility "Council took a look at it and said if we're going 'nhisisaonceinah%imepeo- CllltON ing benefits for our commu- nity," said Jim Balsillie, chair- man and co-CEO of Research in Motion at the dinner. "Parks and recration facil- ities are a fundamentally important part of any com- munity and RIM is proud to be associated with such an ambitious project," said Mike Lazaridis, president and co-CEO of the Waterloo hi-tech company- "This park Will serve our families, friends and neigh- bours for many years to come." Other major contribu- tions annouced that evening included $1.3 million from the K-W Skating Club, $750,000 from the Waterloo Minor Soccer Club and a previously made donation of $250,000 made by the Waterloo Minor Hockey Association. "lt was a commitment to something the club needed to grow." said Bill Nie, presi- to do it. we're going to do it right. "That's tiacti) what this is an example of -- it's an example of doing itrighL" _ ,, A 12 outdoor" Samar fields, should be openbythiskme _ _ "mi bulk of the trail system through the park shouldaiso be open inlune. Three new ball diamonds, in addi- tiontothethreediamaodsthatare already open at Eastbridge park, will be ready for play in July. And" Waierioo's tiist public golf coursewillaisobeopet1korlimited playstatinginSeptember. The green takes shape on the par 3 No. 11 hole of the new golf course The playing fields, specMy the dent of the K-W Skating they're pleased to do it." Club. the biggest sports user Benninger said the ball group donor. "The new got rolling with Filler Carolyn Fedy Skating Centre Sausages, a neighbour of the at the site has everything we new park believe we could want in a "They came to us before facility. we even went to them," said "i/gives us the opportuni- ty to run programs more effectively." Added to the donations already announced, this brings the fundraising total to more than $6 million. Peter Benninger. co-chair of the public fundraising campaign. said the dona- tions were nicely divided between corporate donors, the local business communi- ty and donations from sports groups - . "They've come to the party and responded quite well," Benninger said Thursday after a tour of the "Service groups and user groups are saying that they're getting real value here and they're giving it back and Itae Mum-EWNHH [an]: Itll King St. i, Waterloo Thetotalcostofthepaikis$6timil- lion with Watedoo taxpayers on the hook for net annual operating and capital cost mpaymem ofSl .Zmillion a “We're trying to minimize the over- all cost to the laxpayer," said McFarland. "Nr household we're talk- irogaboutacosto0sthanS27a household. "When you put it in the context of thing; it's an insignificant amount of money-it'sacase ofbeer. Onayear ty basis the average homeowoer's one atseofbeerishelpingkeepthis(park) available for everybody in the com- "They came to us before we even went to them," said Benninger. "They said they wanted to be a part of it." There were a lot of vision- ary donors that jumped on board, said Benninger. impressed with the potential of the project. Benninger said he expects a lot more people to come out in support of the park over the next month as more of the facilities take shape. "I think in the next month to six weeks we'll see more come to the table because now they can see it," he said, The public also has a chance to help reach the tar- get of $7 million over the next month. Donations can be as sim- ple as $50 for a metre of trail, to an interpretative sign for $7,500. BEER STortE OPEN , DAYS A WEEK Mon Fn IDS, 5.4! 9-6, Sun ll-tr