By Greg Higgins

Final preparations for Canadian Open underway

Dec 29, 2016 | 4:00 PM

The glass around the boards of the Civic Centre is down and the ice is being pebbled as North Battleford prepares for the opening of the Grand Slam of Curling next week.

The Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling Canadian Meridian Championship begins on Jan. 3 at the North Battleford Civic Centre and all the final touches are being applied right now. According to the city’s Mayor, Ryan Bater, the arena is beginning the transformation from a hockey rink to a curling arena.

“Because it is an international event, these are the best icemakers in the world,” Bater said. “It is nice to have them here making ice in our Civic Centre.”

Bater added the glass on the boards has been taken down for the first time since 2007 when the new seamless glass was installed.

According to Bater, there will be 170 volunteers involved in the tournament this year. The majority are from various curling clubs around the area, but he said there are some who don’t know how to curl at all and just want to take part in the event. Volunteers will be doing a range of jobs from checking tickets, to security and serving at the bar.

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The volunteers will start on Jan 2. to make sure they are prepared for the event.

As for parking, Bater isn’t concerned about a lack of spots.

“We believe parking should be OK,” Bater said. “During the winter the city opens up the road that is normally closed — MacDonald St. — so accessing Douglas Ave. to the north is easier, so that should help with getting traffic around.”

Bater also urged those who haven’t purchased their tickets to do so as soon as possible. According to the mayor, the majority of the weekend tickets for the playoff matches are sold and the preliminary tickets are selling fast. He added once the tickets are sold “that’s it,” as there will be no additional tickets added.

Ultimately Bater is very confident the tournament will go off without a hitch.

“We were ready mid-December,” Bater said. “We had all of our plans ready and it is just a matter of executing at this point… it was really fun to be a part of because it was so well-organized. I have all the confidence in the world everything will run smoothly.”

Greg Higgins is battlefordsNOW’s city municipal affairs and health reporter. He can be reached at ghiggins@jpbg.ca or tweet him @realgreghiggins.