Lethbridge Curling Club Ladies League play at the ATB Centre on Oct. 24.
The Lethbridge curling club has a new home.
After signing a 10-year lease with the ATB Centre, the club now has a long-term future on the west side.
The joint venture between the club and the city has given the home town curlers a brand new site to grow the game.
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Rob Miyashiro, a city Councilor, is a curler himself and says the new building will have an impact on the popularity of the sport.
“I was there one night and there was 40 people there learning to curl at a cource, which is pretty significant and I never saw that at the old rinks which is pretty cool for the club,” said Miyashiro.
The Civic Ice Centre was the club’s leased out home for over 60 years.
Due to the city owning the building, the Curling Club had to rent the ice out.
When they moved over to the ATB Centre, both parties were in negotiation on the financials for the lease.
“The curling club and the city started talking about what it would cost for the Curling Club to be there. We wanted to make sure the lease was fair to both sides,” said Miyashiro.
The City of Lethbridge and the club have already made big plans for the new recreational facility.
The 2017 World Mixed Doubles and World Senior Curling Championships will be staged at the ATB Centre later next year.
Before that gets under way, the regulars get to break in the ice.
The 10 ice sheets are booked constantly during the week by the leagues associated with the Curling Club.
“I think it means so much advancements, so much fun, so much good curling and hopefully the sport will improve and grow,” said curler Trish Cullen.
Cullen is excited to be able to play in the brand new building and to see if people from the community join the sport because of the new complex.
“It has all the latest technology which helps provide really good, consistent ice.
These things allow both competitive athletes to refine their game, as well it allows recreational curlers to develop skill,” said Krista Shortridge who has been curling for over six years.
The amount of ice available gives those who are competitive curlers as well as those who have never played but have an interest in curling, plenty of chances to get out and play.
The curling club has league play on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday as well as open play league’s for those interested in joining.
