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A Story by Herb Colling
The City of Windsor recently sent a survey to curlers as to what they want should curling at Roseland close, with the building torn down. The survey provides four alternate options for curling in Windsor: an arena in South Windsor, Forest Glade, Adie Knox, or the WFCU Centre. Most Windsor curlers have already said that they’d prefer to stay at Roseland, and don’t want to move to an arena. But, if that’s not possible, some curlers hope that a municipal ice rink might suit the bill. The idea has already been tried in some areas of Ontario, and some people are suggesting that it may be the latest trend for the future of curling, especially since the province has mandated that municipalities divest themselves of unprofitable buildings.
One such arena exists in the City of Cobourg. It’s the Jack Heenan Arena, and it is now the home of the West Northumberland Curling Club. A delegation of the Future of Curling Committee in Windsor recently toured the facility, and learned a few things about the pros and cons of going this route. The delegation consisted of Terry Fink, a non-curler, and the strategist for the Windsor group;
as well as Jim MacLachlan and Dennis Hastings both representing senior curlers, the largest group of Windsor curlers with 85 members. They were met in Cobourg by Ian Hartford, the president of the Cobourg club, and Dean Coates, the administrator for the organization
In 2011, both Coates and Hartford said their group was in a similar strait to that of Roseland curlers when their private golf and curling club decided to close its doors for curling. The 350 members had nowhere else to go within an hour or so, but wanted to continue curling so they went to their city for help. The city provided an unused hockey rink that was built in 1974, giving it a new lease on life.
Coates says the building is well suited to the curlers needs. They take care of the inside, while the city takes care of the outside. The group not only uses it for curling in the winter, but the same cement surface for curling is also used in the summer for a form of a bean bag tossing game called Corn Hole. In the winter, their curling programs are similar to those at Roseland, and include day and night curling, junior and high school programs as well as doubles curling. A bar and kitchen are available for both seasons, and the club is kept active all year round.
Coates and Hartford say the city wanted to use the same ice makers that they use for hockey, but councillors soon learned that idea was impractical. Hartford says the Cobourg facility is designated for curling only and has five sheets of ice that they
maintain themselves with their own ice maker. The City of Windsor has a curling ice maker on staff, so that should not present a problem. The ice surface is excellent, according to the Cobourg members, and they maintain it with the same attention to detail as any other curling rink in the province. They say their ice surface is about 1.5 inches thick, is frozen in thin layers in the fall, and provides the timing of rocks from 14 to 15 seconds, with about four feet of curl. Some curlers say the arena is more open than some curling rinks, and they like that extra space much better. Coates says only 20 curlers gave up the sport when they moved, and they’ve picked up 80 others in the interim. As Ian Hartford says, “You’ll never know whether you like it until you try it. And, it all boils down to whether you want to curl, or not.”
The Windsor curlers learned that there are many ways to run such a facility, and the options have to be carefully considered and weighed before any decisions are made. Those details would have to be worked out with the city. For one thing, cooling pipes run under the cement floor that accommodates the ice surface and, as they age, they might be subject to leaks. Repairs can be expensive and, if the whole floor has to be dug up, it can cost up to 1.2 million dollars. The humidifiers and compressors to cool the building can also cost in the range of 100 thousand dollars, and up. The structure of the leagues, fees, insurance, rental agreements, and other costs must be carefully considered to accommodate any change in the circumstances of a new club. In future, accessibility will also be a factor as wheelchairs must be accommodated.
The Future of Curling Committee has expressed an interest in working with the city to hammer out some sort of an agreement. Most curlers would prefer a new facility at the Roseland site, but are willing to work with city councilors to determine what is possible and practical. Some of the issues that the curlers in Cobourg mentioned are all things that must be carefully worked out.
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