Kensington Area Recreation Association
One of the focal points of all small town is their local arena and ballfields. And Kensignton and its neighboring communities are no different! Community Gardens is located on Gardens Drive, (centrally located) and is regarded as one of the most beautiful and well kept recreation facilities on Prince Edward Island.
Community Gardens is a non-profit organization, which is operated by the Kensington Area Recreation Association (KARA). The Gardens is a multi-purpose facility, with winter sports serving as the main tenants. From early October until the first of April, Community Gardens operates a hectic ice rental schedule averaging 50 plus hours\ wk in the peak periods. It is during this time the Gardens, managed by Robert Wood, employs 3 full time and 20 seasonal staff members.
The Kensington Area Minor Hockey Association and Kensington Area Figure Skating Club are two of the main tenants along wit the Jr. B Vipers, Senior Granites and recreation hockey leagues. The Gardens also features Old Timers hockey, pre-school skates, adult/senior skates, and school skates.
Major events that have been hosted by Community Gardens have been the Bantam AAA Irving Oil Challenge Cup, Atlantic Regional Air Canada Cup Midget AAA hockey finals, Maritime Senior Hockey finals, Annual Bedford Que Peewee exchange, KAFSC Club competitions, Ice shows, ADL Provincial figure skating jr Championship, as well as numerous minor hockey Christmas and March break tournaments.
During the spring the Gardens is utilized for numerous functions including dog shows, concerts, events and for community meetings.
With the summer season softball begins. Community Gardens is the site to two softball fields whose main tenants are the Kensington minor softball program and the mens and ladies recreational softball leagues. The fields have hosted the Eastern Canadian Softball Championships in Mens, Ladies, and youth leagues.
Two other major summer events take place during the summer, KARA summer recreational camp, which attracts local youths (ages 6-11) and employs between 5-8 students every summer. The final event for the summer is the Annual Community Harvest Festival, which is the Grand Daddy of all events at the Kensington Arena. The Harvest Festival is a week long festival which features fun-filled family events which involve all people young and old.
The Most recent expansion at Community Gardens is the new Fitplex fitness center that includes an indoor walking track, mens and womens locker rooms, free weights, nautiliaus weights, aerobics area and cardio equipment. The fitness center boasts over 300 members.
Contact Info:
Arena 902-836-3509 (main number)
Fitplex 902-836-5348
Email: cgardens@pei.aibn.com
