CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — The last rock has been thrown at the Charlottetown Curling Club.
In a meeting on Thursday night, the membership voted and agreed to allow the board of directors to explore selling the building.
“It gives us the authority to go out and talk to partners,’’ Tyler Harris, president of the club, told The Guardian on Friday. “Ultimately, this was the logical and rational outcome.’’
The decision brings an end to more than a century of curling at the building on Euston Street.
There’s been no curling at the club for about a year. The 2019-20 season was shut down a month early due to public health restrictions around the COVID-19 pandemic, and the curling sheets have been empty this year after the chiller in the ice plant broke down.
Harris said the impact of the shutdown wasn’t a big factor in the decision to sell. It boils down to the fact it is an aging facility that has outlived its usefulness.
“We were looking at the whole picture: the way the place operates; the business model; the financial position; evaluations of land in Charlottetown and all that stuff. It’s a question of bringing up what we have to compete with what’s being offered today and the difficulty and expense of doing the renovations that we need to do.’’
Harris said the general consensus among the membership and the board is that upgrades would be too costly.
Harris said there is already interest in the property, although he wouldn’t be specific, only to say that was a factor in the decision to sell.
As for the future of the curling club, the president said there are a few options being looked at.
Discussions are taking place with the City of Charlottetown which is in the process of drawing up preliminary plans for a new Simmons Sport Centre. The city plans to replace the skating rink and the pool and could add a curling rink to the mix.
Harris said they’ve also talked to the Town of Stratford about being included in the plans for the new recreation and education complex.
He also wouldn’t rule out renovating the building that use to be home to the Belvedere Curling Club, which is attached to the Belvedere Golf Club’s pro shop. Belvedere would need a new concrete floor and new pipes, but the cost would be lower than renovating the Charlottetown Curling Club.
However, Harris said no commitments have been made.
“That’s a difficult position we’re in. We’re not in a position to guarantee the membership anything. We are actively speaking to partners and municipalities to create something new that serves the city and the surrounding area.’’
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Did you know?
Following is information about the Charlottetown Curling Club:
• It has been operating at its current site on Euston Street since the early 1900s.
• In the early days, the club consisted of three sheets of ice at its present location.
• After the Second World War, an old airplane hangar was moved from the Charlottetown Airport to the curling club and used to cover the ice surface.
• The Charlottetown Curling Club has sent more teams to the national championships than any other club in Canada.
• The club currently boasts about 120 members but put through 2,000 users in 2019.
