Granite Curling Club closes permanently

After nine decades, the Granite Curling Club is permanently closing.

The decision was announced earlier this week, after the club’s board of directors held its annual general meeting and voted to close the rink for good.

Lisa Beres, board president, said after discovering brine leaks over the summer, the costs were just too high to keep the facility open and running.

“The maintenance and upkeep of the building is quite a bit. Then with the decline of memberships, we just couldn’t afford to stay open,” Beres said.

Over the years there have been plenty of people who’ve played at that rink, including the president of Curl Sask Jim Wilson, who curled there at an early age.

“I grew up in that club, curled in it all through high school, so I had great memories, totally great memories in there,” Wilson said.

The next step for the club is meeting with realtors to get a quote for the building before listing it for sale. But is there a chance the rink could be revived in any way?

“Well short of winning the lottery … I mean, if someone has deep pockets and can turn it around, that would be great,” Beres said.

She added that the building needs extensive repair and renovation, including making it wheelchair-accessible, fixing plumbing issues, and the repairs to the floor.

The rink could turn into a multi-sport venue in the future, however. Beres said pickleball courts have been set up and games have been played in the facility recently, but ultimately what goes into the building next will be up to the new owners.

Wilson said COVID-19 played a big part in memberships going down across the province.

“Numbers are down. With a lot of hard work, we’re seeing they’re trending up a little bit,” Wilson said.

Although the Granite is closing, Wilson said Nutana and Sutherland’s clubs are doing OK, and the CN Curling Club stepped up and brought in all of the junior and high school programs that were previously held at the Granite.

The Granite Kitchen will stay open until the end of May, and the operators are looking for a new location.