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Funding a benefit to both curlers and County

Some recent articles on the curling club roof have incompletely represented the situation. I would hope that through the letters, I will be allowed to correct that.

We must recognize that council has taken on a tough task by keeping to election promises of a zero budget increase this year. In these circumstances, any funding is welcome and even though it does not fully cover the cost of the repairs, we will be able to complete work this summer and can look to the future.

Repeatedly, the small number of members has been raised as an objection to funding repairs to the building. Nay sayers appear to forget that there were more than five hundred different curlers at the club in January. We hosted every level of curling  from first-time curlers at social events through to the finalists in a provincial championship. We attracted every age range from Grade 5 students through to seniors. Is this number of active participants really so low that they just can be ignored?

The poor state of repair has hurt our ability to use the building fully – we cannot schedule events except during a very small window during the coldest months. Even then we were caught out this February by mild weather.  We have also been unable to take on any summer activities; we hosted the shuffleboard league during their first year, but they left because of the leaking roof. Is it any surprise that usage has been low?

What has also repeatedly been overlooked is the point that the county owns the building – a building where we are not the sole tenants. We were not asking council to make a grant to an external agency, merely asking that they maintain their building and take on repairs that were long overdue.

We are also being asked to take on future maintenance costs for this county building – including changes that one would normally expect to be completed by a landlord.

With this funding we can look forward. Our curling season will be extended and we will be able to improve the ice quality, which should allow us to attract more members. We will be able to host events earlier and later in the season, and bring more visitors to the county. With this funding we will also be able to use the building year round. Short mat bowling has already been suggested for during the summer. There may well be other activities we can encourage.

Councillor Nowitski referred to the repair as being akin to putting lipstick on a pig. I think you will find that with a new roof and after a coat of paint, a better comparison would have been to the way an ugly duckling becomes a swan.

We are aware that we will be receiving funding when other groups have not. We look forward to welcoming everyone to one of our open house events next season so you can see that we are spending this money wisely. Hopefully you can be encouraged to try curling and become involved in a winter sport that is inexpensive and provides healthy exercise for all age ranges.
Richard Linnett
President
Prince Edward Curling Club

Filed Under: Letters and Opinion

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  1. Lori Smith says:

    I believe the rental use has increased as a result of fixing up the community centre. As suggested by Richard, a repaired roof, some fresh paint, and maybe a few other minor improvements might get more use, & user fees into the County’s ooffers. At least this is a tangible asset that has a real value – we need to maintain it. I’d rather see a few dollars spent on fixing the building than some of the giveawyas that have been approved by Shire Bank in the past.

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