A newly elected board of directors is hoping to breathe new life into the Crossfield Curling Club, and reopen a beloved local rink that has been out of commission for the last few years.
After an annual general meeting on Jan. 26, a new president and volunteer board were elected to run the Crossfield Curling Club moving forward. The volunteer board’s primary goal in the next few years will be to reopen the town’s curling rink to the public, after the Osler Avenue facility was shut down following the discovery of faulty equipment in 2020 and the ensuing COVID-19 pandemic.
Local curler Lauren Cutress is the club’s newly elected secretary (her husband Gavenn is president). She said the Crossfield Curling Club was coming off a successful 2019 curling season, but had to close their facility after a hole was discovered in the curling rink’s brine tube, allowing ammonia to leak from the chiller system.
“Ammonia, as you know, is very dangerous,” she said. “That meant everything had to be immediately shut down, and the ammonia had to be drained and removed from the premises so that it was safe for people to be in the room.”
The rink remained closed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and while it’s now safe to be back in the building again, (the Town of Crossfield even held its community Easter event there in 2022) the issues with the chiller system mean the curling sheets have not been iced ever since.
“The hard part was, the previous board – and I say this with all the love and understanding, because the world was basically falling part – basically found out there was a problem, and they literally dropped everything and walked away,” Cutress said. “They got one quote and opened an insurance claim, but never followed through on it.
“We knew it was broken and needed to be fixed, but didn’t know the extent of that, or how to do that. We didn’t really have any information, so we’re basically starting from scratch here.”
Following the AGM on Jan. 26, Cutress said the new members of the board met with engineers at the curling rink on Feb. 14 to get a proper quote on what has to be fixed, replaced, or brought up to code to ensure the ice sheets can be used again in the future.
“We need to build a vestibule now so there’s a safe space to enter the room to check the ammonia levels before going in so that something like what happened in Fernie [in 2017] doesn’t happen again,” she said. “The ice plant itself is a big cost, but all the other things that need to happen are almost as big of a cost as well.”
Though she was hesitant to talk specific dollar amounts – the previous board's last quotes are from three years ago, and costs have inflated since then – Cutress said the club is anticipating a $200,000 price tag, all things considered, to bring the Crossfield facility up to code.
However, she noted that is still much less than what building a new curling arena from scratch would cost.
“We looked into that,” she said. “What we could do is a new room with a new chiller plant that sits outside. Those run you about $800,000, so [repairing the current system] is by far the most cost-effective way to do this.”
While $200,000 is a lot of money for a small-budget, volunteer-run curling club, Cutress said the new board is planning to apply for matching grant funding programs, use the proceeds of a casino fundraiser next winter, and also pull from the club’s reserves to help pay for the upgrades.
“It’s not a cheap building to run, but we do have some money in the bank, we have our casino coming, and we have so many grants we’re going to start applying for once we have the right amount of money to match,” she said. “I really do think this is going to be attainable.”
According to Cutress, the club is hoping to reopen the curling rink to the public within 18 to 24 months, meaning it won’t be ready for the 2023-24 curling season, but possibly the season after that.
Since the rink has been closed the last few years, Cutress said most curlers in Crossfield have travelled to the arenas in nearby communities like Madden or Airdrie to get their curling fix during the winters.
“It’s nice to go around and support other communities…and the idea is, maybe they’ll support us back when we’re up and running,” she said.
Considering the Crossfield Curling Club has been a fixture in town since 1929 and the current rink has been in place since approximately 1950, Cutress said people recognize the facility’s historical importance, and are keen to revive it.
“That’s why it was so important to us not to have the doors closed, because it really is a piece of the history,” she said. “All the stories attached to that building, that’s not something we want to lose.”
Eris Latham, the Town of Crossfield’s recreation manager and event coordinator, attended the curling club's AGM on Jan. 26 on behalf of the municipality. She said the Town is excited to see a new board that is dedicated to preserving the historic facility.
“They’re all enthusiastic and seem very passionate about getting the club functioning to a certain point,” Latham said. “They realize curling this coming fall probably won’t be possible, but they’re really opening up to the option of renting that space out as a multi-use facility to generate a little bit of income so that it’s not just sitting empty. It’s a building that’s been standing in Crossfield for 70ish years, and it’s nice to see an existing facility being used to its potential.
“It’s a large facility and has been very well kept considering its age. And there’s a large plot of land to the west of it, so it’s got potential to be a really wonderful place for people to gather.”
Members of the public can learn more about the issues facing the Crossfield Curling Rink at an upcoming open house at 1124 Osler Avenue on March 24 from 5 to 9 p.m. Cutress said the meeting will introduce the club’s new board members, inform attendees of their fundraising plans, and also determine how to utilize the facility in other ways to possibly generate some rental revenue in the short-term.
“We’re trying to get people into the building to see why it’s so important and what it has to offer,” Cutress said.
For more information, visit Crossfield Activity and Curling Club on Facebook or email [email protected]
