BENTON HARBOR—Most everyone is looking forward to the day when this spring’s unseasonably low temperatures come to end, and Bob Kish is no exception.

Owner of the Hidden Pointe Fun Park, Kish has been trying to find sunny days to work on the park, hoping to get it open for the public on a regular basis.

“This spring — I can’t believe it. I’ve opened in March before — always by April 1,” said Kish. “This spring has not been good for us.”

However, as of now, Hidden Pointe’s spring hours are officially in effect.

“It’s Friday afternoons, and all day Saturday and Sunday,” Kish said. “And, if somebody wants to come hit in the batting cage during the week, people can call my cell number. If it’s nice out, I’d be more than happy to open up the batting cages for them.”

Kish’s cell phone number can be obtained by calling the Hidden Pointe Fun Park Event Center at (269) 926-1358. Their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/HiddenPointe, is the best place to check for changes in hours and other promotions. They also have a website at www.hiddenpointe.net.

At the end of May, Kish will change over to summer hours.

“Typically, from Memorial Day until Labor Day, I’m open seven days a week. Monday through Saturday, we’re open from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m.”

Once summer comes, mini golf will be the main attraction, with Kish’s state-of-the-art go-kart track coming in a close second. For now, the batting cages are getting the most use.

“We have a fairly large batting cage, and we offer both softball and baseball. We have quite a few different speeds available,” Kish said.

“I have a batting token special that I run all year long, so if you buy 10 tokens, you get three free,” Kish explained. “I have a lot of people who buy the $10 deal and keep the tokens in the car, and then before a game, their son will jump out, drop a few tokens and take a few cuts before he goes to the game.”

With a professional builder’s license and 25 years of experience, Kish has built nearly the entire fun park with his own two hands, including the go-kart track.

“I did everything out here myself—poured the concrete, did all the welding. It’s nearly a quarter-mile long,” Kish said. “I had a few friends help, especially my best friend. I built the building myself.”

Kish also fixed up the clubhouse when he bought the property. Now, visitors can purchase hand-dipped ice cream, candy and smoothies there.

About four years ago, Kish expanded the property to cover eight acres at 1062 Nickerson Ave., purchasing and revamping the building that now houses the Hidden Pointe Event Center.

Open year round, the event center serves as a location for various business meetings on weekdays, and as a dance hall and live music venue on several evenings each week.

“On Wednesdays, we have a 1950s-60s dance, plus requests, and that starts at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:30, and it goes until 10 p.m.,” Kish said. “We have an ‘open jam’ every Thursday night, and then on Sunday nights, we have a line dance here. It goes from 6 to 7:30 p.m. with a line-dance instructor, and then it goes to regular dance music from 7:30 to 10 p.m.”

Live bands play on some Friday and Saturday nights as well, and Kish also rents out the hall for wedding receptions.

“We have a full bar with just about anything you’d want to drink as far as alcohol. We have quite a few different beers on tap, including Bell’s and Round Barn,” Kish said.

Kish’s plans for the future include adding a beer garden onto the event center and doing more work to the arcade room at the fun park.

“I want to just keep expanding. Eventually, I’d like to have an venue for outdoor concerts and a fenced-in beer garden where people can go outside and have a beer,” Kish said. “I keep reinvesting and trying to make improvements. It’s been a lot of baby steps to get here, and there’s more to get where I want to be.”

Those baby steps have enabled Kish and his wife Sibyl to continue providing a fun place for their kids to spend time—even as they have grown up.

“I started it because I just didn’t think there were that many fun things for people to do in this area. So with four kids, I thought I’d start a fun park with a batting cage, go-karts, and a golf course.”

Now, even though Kish spends a lot of time running the event center and working on the fun park, he is still able to spend quality time with his family.

“My kids are real involved in music,” Kish said. “It’s kinda neat that we have this because we all spend time together every week.”

For guests, Hidden Pointe can also be a great place to spend some quality time with friends and family.

Whether it’s just a quick afternoon getaway with the kids to have some outdoor fun, a birthday party — for which Kish has some discount programs — or an evening of dancing and listening to good music, Hidden Pointe has it covered.