Hurry hard! Curl Moncton club doubles in size

The Curl Moncton club on Lockhart Avenue has doubled in size with the addition of five new sheets of ice.  

The two-year project cost $2.7 million.

"It's a lot more events that we can put on here now," said Gary Walsh, club communications director. "When you're doing a tankard or the Scotties, you're closing down all the rest of the curling that we have here.

"Now with the extra five [sheets] we can keep everything open and going at the same time."

Back in 2011, the Beaver Curling Club and Curling Beausejour merged, becoming one entity known as Curl Moncton.

Walsh says the club has 460 members, and they're looking for more.

"They decided to expand this club here to get more activities going because we have a junior program, Learn to Curl and we also have the Little Rocks program." he said.

Controversial eviction

The expansion did not come without some controversy.

Two years ago, the club decided to sell the former Moncton Curlers' Association building to gain access to equity in the building for the expansion.

As a result, the Humanity Project, a group that helps the homeless and had hoped to buy the building, was forced to move out. 

The club also got money for the expansion from all three levels of government.

Trying to boost popularity

The club has been trying for years to attract new members and events.

Last year, the club started a new curling league for Moncton's LGBTQ community.

The goal was to bring in more curlers and to provide a safe space for the community to learn about the sport.

Moncton hosted the provincial women's championships in 2016, and the Canadian under-18 championships in 2017.

But the city failed in its bids to host the 2019 or 2020 Briers, which Curl Moncton had supported.

'Great pastime'

Ron Demchuk has been curling at the club for the last four years.

"It's a great pastime," he said. "You meet a lot of people, good camaraderie … It keeps you in shape, a lot of sweeping, just a great time." 

He says the expansion will bring more activity, and is looking forward to curling on brand new ice.

Denis Maillet has been a curler since 1986 and says it's a great way to get through the winter — with the added bonus of a social aspect.

He's also pleased to see the new ice surfaces, all in one building.

"I used to curl in different buildings, of course there used to be three here in Moncton," he reminisced. "Now we're all together here, which is a lot better." 

The new facility is also accessible. Walsh hopes it will appeal to more people.

"The actual name of the building that we're looking at — it's not official — it's going to be the Centre for Youth Curling," he said.

"It'll be a great expansion for Moncton and the area."