The future of the Drumheller Curling Club looks a little brighter following a meeting on Thursday, April 7 to create a dialogue between the club’s executive board and members, members of the public, along with representatives from the Town of Drumheller and Curling Alberta.
On March 9 the club announced its current location would no longer be available as of June 30 due to significant repairs and updates required to bring the building up to code amid health and safety concerns.
“It was a productive meeting where, at the end, we stated that if there was a desire to continue to move forward, we all needed to work together,” shares Drumheller Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Darryl Drohomerski.
One way the Town is working to help the club is through “some minor repairs” to the existing rink facility to further extend its life. Initial estimates to complete all the repairs to the facility were around $1 million, though this cost could increase if additional work was identified once repairs began; this amount did not include any aesthetic or ice updates.
However, during this time, CAO Drohomerski notes the Drumheller Curling Club will need to make “significant progress” in their fundraising efforts toward building a new facility.
The existing facility was originally built in the 1950s, and the topic of a new rink has been in discussion for several years between the club and the Town.
Feasibility reports on both the club and facility were brought to council in 2018, along with designs for a new, fully-accessible rink estimated at between $5.6 million and $8.4 million.
For now, the club is looking forward to being able to have another season in the fall and begin working toward raising the necessary funds to help build a new facility.
