This month, we have a slight departure from our usual feature about the club’s members as our spotlight focuses on the Vancouver Curling Club - our current and future facilities.

What is the history behind our current building?

Curling began in Vancouver in 1912 when Lester and Frank Patrick built the Denman Arena, and the Vancouver Curling Club occupied the basement of the Denman Arena.

Curling stopped during the First World War and did not recommence until 1931 at the newly built Forum on the current PNE grounds with 10 sheets of curling ice. In 1936, the Denman Arena burned down...and hockey took over the Forum, forcing curling to only one sheet of ice at the end of the Forum...and it was 12 feet short of regulation length.

The need for more space and the desire of keen competitors brought new funds for a new facility at 18th & Heather in 1938. Plans were scrapped after the sod turning with the start of World War II. After the war, J.W. Cornett, our Honourary Life President, spearheaded the fundraising, design and construction of our present five-sheet facility which opened October 7, 1949.

What can be expected in our new facility?

The new home of the VCC will be an eight-sheet curling facility with a concrete slab floor. Our new facility will include upstairs and downstairs viewing lounges, a kitchen, changerooms, offices, meeting space and more.

The new VCC will part of a larger community centre that is a legacy of the 2010 Winter Games. The neighbours of the VCC will include a a new Percy Norman Pool (including a leisure tank, 50-meter lap pool and an outdoor aquatic facility), library, public ice rink, gymnasium, aerobics and fitness studios, preschool, fieldhouse and Parks Board offices.

When do we move into the new facility?

A meeting with the Vancouver Parks Board on 14 February 2008 indicated that it is still too early to confirm the occupancy date for the legacy facility. Following the completion of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, VANOC will need to complete a deconstruction phase before handing the building back to the City of Vancouver. The city will then lead the legacy conversion, but the timing of this is still to be determined.

Once the legacy drawings are completed (and these are being worked on right now), a conversion construction timeline will be created and as soon as the Board of Directors knows when the VCC will have occupancy, we will be sure to let you know.

Where can more information be found?

The Vancouver Parks Board website has a number of fact sheets and preliminary drawings that are available. And, as more information becomes available from the ongoing discussions that the External Affairs Committee is having with the City of Vancouver and VANOC, it will be shared with the membership in “The Backline” and on the VCC’s website.

In the Spotlight is a casual Q&A where we tell the stories of the VCC - our past, our present and our future - through our members and staff. So if you know of a member who has a great story to share, please email us at newsletter@vancouvercurlingclub.com.