Town of St. Paul Gives $30K for Curling Rink Repairs

The Town of St. Paul has approved $30,000 to be given to the Curling Club to repair the exterior wall of the building; which will include insulation and crack repairs. Vice-President of the St. Paul Curling Club, Andre Looy, who presented to Council Monday, says the rink has a temperature differential of 6 degrees from one end of the rink to the other; which can drastically affect games.

“On the west wall of the curling club, where the two big fans are, we’ve had big cracks appear. The Town and/or the ice maker have had to start spray foaming the cracks,” Looy explains the cinder blocks are separating on the wall. “Last year, we hosted a Provincial event, a very big event, and they check all the temperatures and they detected 6 degrees difference from the inside warm-wall, which is the Rec Centre to the outside wall. That shouldn’t be, it should be a stable condition.”

The provincial tournament, ACAC Curling Championships was hosted by Portage College, in February. The college has indicated that they hope to host Provincial again and maybe even some bigger tournaments at the facility, like a National Championship. Along with Portage College, the club typically hosts Juniors, High School Provincials and zones.

“We’re trying to get our curling conditions more average.” Looy explains the difference in temperature can play a big role in the game, “the ice at five feet is supposed to be at 5 degrees, with such a tall building, 20-22 feet, there will be warm air up and cool air down. What happens is if we blow too much warm air down and there’s too much cold air sitting, you can get warm spots on the ice. We had one fan go out on the Rec Centre side and it started melting the ice.” Looy says the goal is to keep the ice very close to zero degrees, but to achieve that the insulation must be improved and cracks in the walls must be repaired.

The Town agreed to give the Curling Club $30,000 to repair to insulation and cracks in the walls.