Editorials
March 06, 2008 07:00 AM
Is this town ready to rock?
Could be.
Mayor Wayne Emmerson has called an open house to find out if there is sufficient interest to build a curling club in Whitchurch-Stouffville.
The meeting is March 11 at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at the municipal offices.
Former councillor Cliff Dunkeld, one of several Stouffville residents curling in Uxbridge, supports the idea. Other supporters include local residents curling in Unionville.
A youth program in Uxbridge draws youngsters from the Stouffville area, too.
The Unionville and Uxbridge clubs are both near capacity.
This is one of the most vibrant zones and regions for competitive play in Ontario, curlers say.
On the flip side, the number of sheets in the GTA has gone down.
There’s the rub.
Organizers have to show there is sufficient interest in this rapidly growing and changing area. They’ll need names and financial commitments in terms of membership pledges.
Other attempts at building a club in Stouffville during the last 25 years have not progressed this far.
Let’s hope this one continues to build. The addition of new recreational opportunities and facilities can only be positive, for residents of all ages.
Curling clubs are the social hub for many in small-town and big-city Canada. They are a gathering place and a place of recreation.
The sport has a proud local history dating back to 1890 when it was played on the mill pond where the Latcham Gallery and Care & Share Shoppe are now.
Indoor facilities were housed at Daley Hall at Main and Market streets, an arena on Park Drive north of Main Street and in Gormley at Rolling Hills golf club. None of those facilities survived as curling rinks.
Elsewhere in York Region, there are rinks in Unionville, Newmarket, Richmond Hill, Sutton and Thornhill. Preliminary plans call for four sheets of ice in a private building on public land. Memberships would pay expenses. A site has not been selected, but the town has land available.
Grant money could be available, as well as government financing.
We’ll have a better idea March 11 of how badly this town wants to curl on home ice.