North Battleford city council at this week's meeting. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Three-year agreement

City council renews Twin Rivers Curling Club lease

Jun 28, 2023 | 12:25 PM

North Battleford City Council renewed the Twin Rivers Curling Club (TRCC) lease for another three years at its meeting this week.

The lease will run retroactively from Jan. 1, 2023 to Dec. 31, 2025 for the club, which operates out of the Northland Power Curling Centre and also manages the City of North Battleford-owned facility. The value of the lease is $1 per year.

City Parks and Recreation Director Cheryl DeNeire noted in her report the curling club is working hard to bring more curling back to the centre.

“They are providing a full line-up, as well as running other curling programs [to adults and youth], and bidding to host many events. It’s hopping over there at the moment. They are bringing on a lot of rentals,” she said.

Coun. Bill Ironstand said he hears people complain, asking why the City of North Battleford is subsidizing the curling club. He said they feel the curling club members should be responsible for that cost.

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“I understand the curling club. I enjoy the game. But this is the one building I get the most [comments about]: ‘What are we subsidizing the curling club rink for? Why don’t they increase costs to their membership… A couple times a week people talk to me about that when we talk about money in the city.”

Coun. Len Taylor countered, the curling club would be happy to open their books to any member of the public.

“The curling club is not being subsidized by the city,” he said. “In fact, the curling club contributes more to that facility than curling.”

Taylor added the curling is 100 per cent paid for by the curlers in the building. The city provides some maintenance services in the facility. Then, there are six months in the year when the curling club “tries to manage a large empty building on behalf of the city” when the building isn’t being used for curling.

“It’s during those challenging times that [they] require some additional support from the community,” he said. “The curling club subsidizes the building, not the other way around.”

Taylor added the club also uses a lot of volunteers and community partners so the venue can host various events like the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) Assembly conference held here in May. The curling club also hosts a number of fundraisers to bring in revenue, such as the annual Steak and Lobster Fundraising Supper that was held June 16, that generated more than $12,000 in profit.

“They are doing all they can to find ways to ensure that the club is able to cover the costs when there is no curling in the rink,” Taylor said. “That’s where a considerable amount of the additional costs come in.”

Twin Rivers Curling Club vice president Doug Fehr, appearing online, said the curling club pays about $3,000 to $5,000 per month in power costs in the months in which it’s not actively curling.

“Our operational costs for utilities outweighs … what we receive in revenue from the curling fees,” he added. “To Coun. Ironstand’s comment, yes, we certainly have looked at increasing curling fees. But there is a break-point at which the revenue we gain from increased fees will drop in terms of overall revenue.”

“We have implemented a number of increases over the last number of years; we haven’t looked at this upcoming season. We’re very cognizant of the fact that a high per cent of our curlers are seniors on fixed incomes. We’re trying to keep curling affordable for groups that are disadvantaged, and for seniors… So, I do appreciate council’s support.”

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow