Latest news with #curling
CTV News
4 hours ago
- General
- CTV News
Curling will not return to Roseland: Windsor mayor
A committee named The Future of Curling Windsor-Essex has launched a petition to save the Roseland Curling Club in Windsor, Ont. on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. (Bob Bellacicco/CTV News Windsor) Windsor mayor Drew Dilkens said curling will not return to Roseland. Speaking on AM800's Mornings with Mike and Meg, Dilkens said the refrigeration system at Roseland is inoperable and has been decommissioned. The mayor is commenting on a report going before council on Monday that calls for curling rink at the Capri Pizzeria Recreation Complex to convert back to a skating ice pad to accommodate user groups who are impacted by the fire at the WFCU Centre in April. Dilkens said it's an unfortunate situation and added the pad at the AM800 ice rink is expected to be closed for 10 to 12 months. 'We're only here and this is only a temporary measure, we're only here simply because of the fire that happened and the need to fix the roof and the WFCU Centre,' said Dilkens. He said the site at Roseland has been decommissioned. 'The refrigeration systems have been made inoperable,' he said. 'So, it would take considerable money if you were going to look at doing that but Roseland as everybody knows is on a different trajectory and that spaced is closed.' Dilkens said the clubhouse at Roseland could be demolished this fall. 'The administration is preparing everything right now to get it in front of city council for their approval,' said Dilkens. 'It has to be decommissioned so there's some asbestos that has to be removed and typical things you have to do in a building of that age before you can bring in the wrecking ball and take it down.' The fire at the WFCU Centre happened on April 28, causing $1 million in damage. Curling started last fall at Capri after council voted to end curling at Roseland in 2023. - Written by Rob Hindi/AM800 News.
CTV News
14 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
Riverside hockey head backs plans for move to Capri Complex
Curlers might be booted of their ice rink to make room for hockey teams. CTV's Robert Lothian reports. Loading the player instance is taking more time than usual Loading the player instance is taking more time than usual The head of a local minor hockey league is backing a controversial plan to remove curling from the Capri Recreational Sports Complex (CPRC) temporarily. Anne Marie Schofield told CTV News while the move would be unfortunate, it makes the most sense to prioritize the majority of ice users. 'It is a common-sense response to a catastrophic event,' said the president of the Riverside Minor Hockey Association. The proposal follows a fire at the WFCU Centre in April , which could displace users of the AM800 rink for a year. In response, the City of Windsor is proposing rink users move to Rink A at the CPRC and displace the curling community, which has been there for about a year. 060225 - Capri Complex Capri Pizzeria Recreation Complex, June 1, 2025. (Robert Lothian/CTV News Windsor) According to a city report, the association uses 56 hours per week on the AM800 rink as well as 22.5 hours per week on the Green Shield rink at the WFCU for a total of 78.5 hours per week. 'This is not just about RMHA or the Riverside Figure Skating Club, this is about every major user group having to sacrifice something,' Schofield said. Due to ice-sharing policies, Schofield said if they remain at the WFCU, all 11 major ice user groups will have to evenly split the time at the two community rinks. 'Every user group will have to sacrifice a percentage of their ice so that we can fairly and equitably redistribute that loss and mitigate some of that loss,' she said. Per the report, the AM800 Rink generated $441,000 in revenue for the 2024/2025 season, compared to $155,000 at the CPRC. 'So, a one-year pause is not going to be as catastrophic for them as it would be for every other major ice user in the city, not to mention the loss of revenue,' Schofield said. Schofield also warned without the move, they would have to decrease roster sports and additional programming. She adds a move to defer the matter could risk impacting planning for the upcoming season. Windsor City Council is expected to debate the matter at its next meeting on June 9.
CTV News
a day ago
- General
- CTV News
Curling rink axed?
Windsor Watch Curlers might be booted of their ice rink to make room for hockey teams. CTV's Robert Lothian reports.
CBC
a day ago
- General
- CBC
Curling swept aside? Windsor mulls ice shortage options after arena fire
The short-term fate of curling in Windsor, Ont., once again up in the air. A new city report headed to council next Monday outlines a recommendation that would see the curling ice at the Capri Pizzeria Recreation Complex reconverted to ice skating — leaving local curlers temporarily out of luck for the next season. This after just last year curling was forced to move from Roseland Golf Course grounds — so the clubhouse and curling could be demolished — into the twin-pad south Windsor arena. That move lowered the city's public skating rinks from nine to eight. Ice schedulers across the border city have now been thrown for another loop following the loss of one rink at the WFCU Centre. City officials believe it will take at least 10 months to repair the AM800 pad after hundreds of solar panels were destroyed in a rooftop fire on federal election day, April 28. "It is unsafe to allow anyone on the damaged area, and it has been deemed unsafe to allow the public to walk beneath," the report states. The city report also outlines water damage in the insulation above the rinks while other mechanical systems are still being investigated. Michael Chantler, the city's commissioner of community services, calls the situation "completely unfortunate," and "devastating" to their programming. "There's no perfect scenario where we can satisfy everyone," he told CBC News. "It puts us in a very difficult position as administration and we're just going to try and do what we can do best for most people in the community." The city says it would cost $10,000 to change the curling ice back to regular skating ice at Capri. The move would put curling on pause, temporarily, until the 2026-2027 season. CBC News reached out to a local group focused on saving the future of curling in Windsor and has yet to hear back. The main tenant of the AM800 rink is the Riverside Minor Hockey Association (RMHA), which serves more than 600 young people and uses about 53 hours of ice each week on the pad — across all rinks at the WFCU it's more like 80 hours and $441,000 of revenue for the city, according to association president Anne Marie Schofield. "It makes clear and logical sense from a disaster recovery perspective," she said, as it relates to getting the bulk of affected users back up and running to maintain their business. According to Schofield, curlers have every right to be upset but that is a short-term thing. "This is one season, hopefully. No one wants to remove curling completely. We adapted to that change a year ago and we'll adapt again," she said. "We're looking for them to adapt now to this." Municipal staff said in the report that curling books around 14 hours of ice each week at the current Capri arena complex and generated around $155,000 during the 2024-2025. Chantler says the revenue generated by the skating groups versus curling was a factor in their decision with such a "decent disparity" between the two. "This caught us obviously completely by surprise. You can't plan for a fire," he said. Schofield said keeping her hockey association and Riverside's skating club at "home" during any ice adjustment was critical for them.
CTV News
2 days ago
- General
- CTV News
City to consider turfing curling season amid shortage of ice rinks
A new report to Windsor City Council could derail the upcoming season for the region's curling community. The report aims to address a shortage of ice space following a fire at the WFCU Centre. Staff are recommending Rink A at the Capri Pizzeria Recreation Complex, which is used for curling, be converted to a typical skating rink. The news was much to the surprise of Terry Fink, the chairman of a group looking to save curling in Windsor. 'We've sort of been hit, blindsided, by the report and, because we feel it's incomplete, there needs to be consultation, and we think that that has been absent a lot,' Fink told CTV News. 060125_curling arena windsor fink Terry Fink, the chairman of a group looking to save curling in Windsor, June 1, 2025 (Robert Lothian/CTV News Windsor) Curling was already displaced last year after the council elected to move the sport from Roseland Golf and Curling Club because the aging rink was slated for demolition. 'It was council by resolution that said, you know, come to South Windsor Arena and, curling will be bigger and better than it was at Roseland,' Fink said. Following a fire on April 28, the roof above the AM800 rink has been compromised and added work is needed to investigate subsequent water damage at the WFCU's other two community rinks. As a result the AM800 rink, which is primarily used as the home of the Riverside Minor Hockey Association, could be closed for an entire year, a staff report states. The report highlights by eliminating the curling season at Capri, the city could accommodate the loss of prime ice time, which are high use times on weekends and weeknights, at the WFCU Centre. At Capri's Rink A, curling used 14 of the possible 53 hours of prime ice time available. 'So a lot of the curlers are retirees, and so they're curling during the day when you and other people are at work, and all the children are at school,' Fink explained. Fink added the sport does have a strong contingent of adult players who are on the ice after work hours. 'Going into this, we all knew what the hours of curling were going to be and it was not an issue, so I don't understand,' Fink added. The report has also received criticism from Fred Francis, Ward 1 City Councillor, who feels the proposal is 'disappointing.' Coun. Fred Francis An undated photo of Windsor's Ward 1 Coun. Fred Francis. (Sanjay Maru/CTV News Windsor) 'Council's being put in a tough spot, asking essentially to choose between hockey and curling, and that's bad policy,' Francis told AM800 CKLW. Francis previously advocated for a continued curling presence at Roseland and wonders if the predicament could revive that dream. Regardless, he added the city needs better plans to increase its rink capacity and avoid future shortcomings. Francis warned by displacing curlers for the year, the city risks never seeing the sport return. 'I think if the city gets out of the curling game right now, I don't think we'll ever get into it,' Francis said. Since moving from Roseland, Fink noted they've added about 60 curlers, but he echoed that a one-year hiatus could kill interest in curling. 'As something ends, we'll find something else to do, and it may be very difficult and challenging to bring the volume of curlers back after your year of not curling,' he added. Before a decision is made, Fink said he wants council to explore further opportunities and consider how they would support curling if it does disappear for a year. - with files from AM800's Dustin Coffman
