The Cowichan Lake Sport Arena’s curling facility review has already been presented to the Cowichan Lake Recreation Commission, but will likely be reviewed during its Jan. 25 meeting.
It’s hard to say whether a final decision will be made at that meeting however, according to Lake Cowichan Councillor Bob Day.
“I’m just an alternate and I was lucky to be there when it was presented by the consultant at the December meeting so I probably won’t be at the table during the discussion,” Day said. “My prediction is they’ll go with recommendation number one.”
That recommendation is to sustain the facility as a curling rink “in the short to medium term (up to three years) while doing some work to enhance facility operations such as developing it into a “centre of excellence” in conjunction with Curl BC and continuing to work at growing the sport of curling.
But that’s not all. The recommendation also notes leaving it the way it is isn’t good enough. Dry-floor space should also be increased.
“Reduce the curling ice season at the facility and expand the available number of dry-floor weeks. Undertaking this action will help meet community needs for dry-floor space with a relatively minimal impact on curlers. Leagues could continue to operate with the same number of draws, just within a more condensed schedule,” said the report.
Adding amenities during the times the ice is out would help.
A climbing wall, TRX suspension training equipment and things like basketball nets “could help meet community needs for spontaneous recreation when the facility is not in use for curling or scheduled dry-floor activities,” said the recommendation.
It makes sense to Day.
“The trend of recreation is definitely flowing toward more drop-in dry-floor space activities,” he noted, adding the consultant did say that the status quo will not be sufficient to keep the curling alive.
The 68-page document also looked at other options including partial and complete retrofits of the entire facility so there are multiple directions and various timelines for the commission to work with.
“It’s so hard to say what they’ll decide,” Day said. “They did pay $20,000 for a consultant to come and do this work. It shouldn’t just be talked about once and filed. It should be looked at, yearly, I think.”
sarah.simpson@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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