'I wouldn't trade it for anything,' says longtime member of historic curling club set to be torn down

Cy Crocker and his wife, Jane, have been members of the historic curling facility at Scarboro Golf and Country Club for three decades, but now they must say goodbye.

"It's been exciting and it's been fun," Crocker told CBC Toronto on Tuesday. "I wouldn't trade it for anything in the last 30 years."

The rumours Crocker said he overheard for years about a Metrolinx expansion project have finally come to fruition — the area around the club will be impacted by a project that is part of the Lakeshore East corridor service.

"It's an underpass to remove the level crossing so it's safer," Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins said in an email. "We are quadrupling GO trains as part of our huge expansion program underway."

The wood-panelled facility being demolished was built over six decades ago as an add-on to the golf club, which was established in 1912.

But it's not just the building that will be impacted. Nearly 300 curlers have become what Crocker describes as a family.

"We had one woman out there, she's since passed away, she curled into her 90s," Crocker said. 

He said the building served as an activity-spot for the community and a place to build long-lasting friendships.

His three children grew up curling at the club. Laura Crocker, his middle child, threw her first rock at the age of six and has since pursued the sport competitively around the world.

'It was frustration, it was anger'

Crocker said he and other members were disappointed about the club's decision, which they were told about in October.

"It was frustration, it was anger," he said to describe the feelings of members when they heard the news. "It was kind of a feeling that they weren't consulted."

But the Scarboro Golf and Country Club is a shareholder-driven organization, which means the golfers who pay for private memberships decide the club's direction.

The shareholders rejected the initial design plan proposed by Metrolinx, which didn't require the demolition of the curling building. They later voted in favour of a design submission that calls for the building to be torn down.  

"None of the options retaining the curling facilities met the long-term needs of the golf club," said Graeme Harris, spokesperson for the club. "The first example that Metrolinx provided was not suitable at all for the operations of the golf club."

Crocker said he believes this decision was a survival tactic for the club amid dwindling memberships in the golf industry. He said clubs must re-evaluate how to best market themselves to people who are willing to pay extra to be members of a private organization. 

"Everyone's looking for new members," he said. "In their heart of hearts they're doing this for the betterment of the club...they're trying to re-establish themselves." 

'It's a family'

Toronto Mayor John Tory showed up Saturday to the last bonspiel that would be held at this facility.

Crocker said the atmosphere was bittersweet.

"Everyone's pulling for each other," Crocker said. "It's a family. They rally around you and support you in the not-so-good times and the good times."

He said he will play until the end of the season in April, when the curling club will officially shut down.

After that, Crocker said members who want to keep playing will need to find a new facility.